Aluna
by Dragon's Lover1
Summary: What do you think would happen if a woman, a thief, had Vash's speed, believed in moons controlling fate and had the bright idea to steal from him while he's asleep? I think this would happen. . . Please read it, I spent a lot of time on it.
1. The Best

Disclaimer: Isn't this always first? One way or another I'm going to have to find a way to permanently stick the 'disclaimer' to the beginning of each chapter I write . . . Damn things . . . *Sigh* I do not own Trigun. THERE!! I said it!! *Psychologists around the world cheer at the accomplishment*

But anyway. This is my third _written _Trigun fic. I dunno which is going up first. Eh, I might've already uploaded one; who knows. 

In a nutshell this is what might happen if a woman who had Vash's speed used it all for stealing and decided to steal from _him_, while he's _asleep _nonetheless.

And this here is . . . 

Chapter One: The Best

I was careful as I snuck into the hotel; I knew this place was harboring a known felon, though I did not know who. Despite how confident I was that my martial arts and light steps were perfected enough that I wouldn't have to worry about it, I still held my cautious nature. Tonight was that night, I knew. Every month there was that night when my moon was blocked out by a larger one, and that was never a good sign. 

Now understand, I am not superstitious. I don't believe that Friday the thirteenth is an evil day, or that fate controls who you meet, what you do, where you end up and which career you take, but I still have a few things that bug me and prove so true that I have no reason but to believe it. [D L: I dunno yet how the Trigun moons work, but in my story, they work like this here. Think of it as a new moon.] Like my moon becoming covered. I knew from the day I was born that this moon was mine, and only mine. Every time I needed lifting, I could look up at it and feel better. Every time I needed courage, I could swear it shone brighter. When I felt lonely, its many craters made me feel part of something and kept me company. And every time I missed _him_, I could simply look up and see his smile in the moon's lovely glow. And just like those other examples, every time the moon was hidden behind the bigger one, I felt my courage leave and my loneliness return. It never failed, even after all these years. . .

But I can't think of that now. I had once chance to make this work, and I wasn't going to waste it. I've been watching this particular hotel for some time now; it had the best customers with the best . . . possessions. I saw each and every person come and go for the past two weeks, waiting patiently for the perfect moment. Now was it. Every night at around nine a couple of richly decorated men came inside, at ten two women and a man in a red getup would enter, and then, finally, at nearly midnight, the owner's lighted window would click off and the doorman would lock the door. That's what I was waiting for. I'd seen the touch-pad alarm enough times to know what the numbers were, and I could easily get the key form the doorman. And there went the light. 

I hopped down from my perch on the two-story room of the house across the street and slipped between the hotel wall and the donut store next door, which, I had also noticed, was the main place one guest spent his time. It was actually funny, and I got several laughs from watching him do silly things. But there was no time for this now. I had to stay calm and controlled, not giggling and giving away my position. I wore my favorite black outfit today, being something like a Japanese set. My shirt was a turtleneck, and had huge sleeves for hiding things. The pants were like and other, tight and form-fitting. But on top of that, an extension of my shirt, was a skirt that reached just above my knees, creating the perfect place to hide things. I had straps on my upper arms and legs - Velcro so it could go around anything. It worked better than one might think. But just in case, I had a few other tricks.

And here comes the doorman, right on time. I pulled back further, which some might think odd, since the walls were only a foot and half apart, but I was a master at hiding and I wasn't a nig, buff man that would get stuck in that area. Just as the doorman passed by I shot my hand out, grasping the key and pulling from his pocket before he could blink. I pulled back to where I was about ten feet back when he paused to look around; he felt something. I held the keys tightly in my hand to keep them from clanking together and controlled my breathing even more, making the sound nonexistent. After all, these walls were the type that tended to echo. The doorman looked in every direction before shrugging and continuing his trek. I stayed put and counted like I always did, until I reached ninety. That was the magic number, so to speak. It gave the perfect amount of time for even somebody in a wheelchair to make it far enough away to not hear me even if I spoke to them.

I smiled; my luck hadn't left yet after all. I slipped out as slowly and soundlessly as I entered the tight spot and went to the door. The owner fell asleep in three minutes, I reminded myself. The light would click off, he would busy himself with taking off his shoes, and three minutes later, he was asleep. It was his routine. And everybody had a routine, even the most unpredictable ones, no matter how long it took to find that routine. I would sometimes follow one specific person for months before getting it down, and once it took a full year to make sense of. Normally I wouldn't have stayed for the prize that long, but what he had was a ruby the size of a fist. It was worth waiting around for. 

I suppose I could have just used my knife to cut open a hole in a window or unlock it, and in any other situation I might have, but in this hotel had security system that couldn't be overridden or turned off that way. This might be the only chance I have at getting in easily. The alarm silently turned on, as I assumed it did every night when the hotel was entered. I clicked in the exact code and it shut off as quickly as it came on, the tiny red light stopped blinking and a green one turned on.

I placed the key on a small table beneath it; I didn't have any more use for it anyway. I started as I always did, at the topmost floor and working my way down. Each room had something of value, but on average just three rooms of the fifteen on each level was occupied. Six levels, which meant eighteen chances for a big score. I went right for the first room on the sixth level and unlocked with an expert twist of my hand - which held a ridged knife - and a satisfied click from the handle. I went in and saw one, seemingly old woman, so deep in sleep I might've yelled loudly in her ear and she wouldn't so much as twitch. I searched through her things as quickly as possible; my luck wouldn't last all night, and my skill, perfect as it was, wouldn't last this night. 

Wasted search. She had nothing I didn't already have. Each of them other rooms was just as disappointing, until, that is, I went into room three-fourteen. I had a strange feeling about this one, and one thing I learned to always listen to was my instincts. It told me that if I wanted to search through this place, it wouldn't be able to be long. It told me if I stayed for too long I'd be caught, and my philosophy was, it's not a crime until you're caught. Sure, I had a 'hot sheet', but very little crimes were on it. Those were the times when I was practicing, stealing things like a piece of bubblegum or plastic ring or hair tie. Or a sign off a store door. Little things that were meaningless like that, until I was sure I could steal other things.

I found a few things that were more interesting than anything else, which in my book deemed it worthy of a take. A silver gun, which was heavy as well as bigger than I was used to, and I noticed it was not like any other type I'd seen, which is a lot coming from me. I also found a boot that had a knife in it, but split in half and tucked into the sides. I tapped the bottom and the two came together, creating a sharp blade. I smirked but put it down; I wouldn't have much use for it anyway. This room didn't have very much in the way of valuable belongings, so I looked instead at the sleeping form wrapped up in thick blankets and moved to look at this person, male or female I did not yet know. He/she had blonde hair, a little long, that flipped over the head and rested slightly over their eyes. I could make out a tiny freckle beneath the left eye, and as well took in a gold ring on the left ear. I smirked and carefully took it off, putting it in my left ear as I thought of where I had seen this person before. The main reason why I had the earring in my left ear was because of this weird thing in which I just feel that accessories on me felt better on my left side that my right. That's where my knives were, and my tools. I even had a chain around my waist that was incredibly thin and hooked together over my left hip and hung down an inch or so. 

Even as I thought I could see a piece of paper or something of the like on the ground, slightly beneath the bed. I knelt down and picked it up, set on knowing what it was. It was a piece of paper, and I read it. Now, some people would think that because of the low light in the room I wouldn't be able to see what was on it, but after more than a decade of sneaking around in darkness you learn to pick out which blur meant what. 

It seemed to be some kind of note, but before I had a chance to read what it was about, a hand clamped down on my wrist. I jerked and snapped my head up, realizing for the first time that dawn was fast approaching. 

Two greenish blue eyes met mine, and a voice came from the lips that moved. "Do a guy a favor, and tell him exactly what you're doing in his room."

"Why?" I replied, stunning him just long enough to twist my wrist out of his grip and jump back. The covers practically flew back and he, too, jumped up, fully awake. Now I recognized him; he was the silly man that loved to spend time in the donut store next door. Only his red getup was gone. He had a pair of what looked to be gray gym shorts and a hugely oversized black shirt. I noticed his right arm had several scars and his left one looked like it might be metal.

I took a stance only a black-belt could hold properly and waited. I was good at that. So _he _made the first move. He said something I wasn't listening to and made a grab for my wrist again; he should know by now that I wasn't going to let myself get caught. I dodged and used my quickest moves, purposely showing off my speed. But I was surprised as well; he was well matched with me. But I nonetheless did some of my best tricks, twisting around with a handful of his shirt in my hand and kicking him to he bent over enough for me to take it off. Well, _that _was a shock. He didn't look too happy about it.

His entire torso looked covered in scars. And yup, his left arm was metal. Somehow, either through my shock just wearing down or his sudden vehementy at my actions, I ended up caught with both of my arms pinned behind my back by his left hand. His right hand went straight for taking back his earring. As he put it on I struggled, causing us both to fall, me landing on my back very uncomfortably, what with my arms still pinned back there and all. 

Gods, he was heavy! Did I have to pick a fight with someone so damn _tall_? Lucky for me I wasn't stuck for very long. He let go of my arms as he sat up, only he firmly remained sitting on my hips. He crossed his arms. 

"Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Tall?" I retorted, purposely trying to annoy him. "Do I look like I care? I don't watch the news."

"I am Vash the Stampede."

"Did you heat a word I said? _I. . .don't. . .watch. . .the. . .news._" I said it slowly to maybe help it through his skull. 

"Let me put it this way. I have sixty billion double dollars on me if I'm taken back alive. Does that help your memory?"

"Just what the _hell _did you do to get that much on you? I've got just over fifty thousand."

He raised a brow at me. "Are you. . .comparing yourself to me?"

"Could you get off of me now?" I snapped. This was getting too weird for me. 

"Why should I make this any easier for you?" He poked my chin. "What else did you take?"

"Why should I make this any easier for you?" I shot back. I crossed my own arms and refused to move. "You want them back, you find them."

He looked like he was going to growl at me, but I. . .um. . ._stayed _my ground. He finally gave up the stares and pulled a necklace from my left sleeve. I got that in room five oh three. It had real diamonds and nice sized sapphires and emeralds. Very beautiful, with the chain being silver. He put that aside, and delved back in. Soon there was a small pile of jewels and such next to him. I could really hold a _lot _in those Velcro strips. 

But he didn't find his gun. He checked both of my arms and my legs - while fighting down a blush, by the way - but only _I _knew where it was. 

He brought up the subject. "Where's my gun?"

"Did you drop it?" I asked, putting on my best questioning look. These as well were perfected, and I had full faith that I wouldn't screw it up, as dawn had reached us and bathed the room in gold light by now. Which reminds me. . . "My moon's back," I whispered. Perfect. 

Vash kind of tilted his head for a second, wondering what _that _was about. But before he could say a damn thing I shoved him back so hard his head whacked the floor. Right about now he ought to be thanking the Gods that the floor was carpeted. 

I got, leaving the night's prizes behind as I dashed out of the door, but I got another surprise. He was able to keep up with me, and after him yelling something and me rounding a corner, he had me pinned again - this time to the wall. 

He questioned me again about the gun, but that I wasn't listening to. I refused to answer and heard people scurrying out of a room and turning the corner. It was those two women, the ones who he kept traveling with. The shorter one spoke up.

"What's going on?" she snapped, seeing as how I was pinned to the wall by a man without a shirt who as well looked very angry and had his mechanical arm against my shoulders so I couldn't get away. . . And then it hit me. How I could get out of here.

"Help!" I said. "He's trying to rape me!"

Both of the two women turned dark immediately, and looked like they were going to kill him. Vash, in the meantime, looked like he wanted to argue that but it wouldn't do any good. The short girl growled and decked him across the face, much as he tried to deny what I had said. I thanked both women and hugged them, managing to take a watch from the taller girl and five derringers from the short one. I waved good-bye and slipped away, even as that Vash character tried to prove his innocence and tell them I was a thief in one. 

I hadn't gotten very far when I heard him point out that he wouldn't go out without a shirt like this unless he was chasing someone, and that Milly's watch was gone. So _that's _the tall girl's name.

All three made for following me, and I knew that if I were to get out of here I'd have to take a higher route. I saw a decorative bar above me, just before a vent. _Yes! _my mind crowed. I took a few steps back and ran forward, jumping to grab onto the bar and swing into the vent, legs first. [D L: Ever see the Fifth Element? Like that.]

I caught a glimpse of the trio as I swung in, and that the short woman saw me. She pointed and then I was crawling away, as quietly as possible. Thankfully I trained a full three months in vents to learn how to do this just right, no matter what I was carrying. And I knew enough about this particular hotel that I knew my way around. I took a random course and ended up on the first level, just before the door. I popped open the vent and dropped down, not making a sound even though the entry room was two stories high itself, and wide enough to fit four rooms in. 

"Ahem."

I stopped, standing still as I closed my eyes. I turned slowly, seeing that Vash character in front of me, dressed in his usual red getup, and I looked over my shoulders to see Milly on one side, holding a _huge _gun. Over the other was the short woman, pointing two derringers at me.

I sighed, reaching behind me to the back of my thighs. I pulled four Velcro pieces and the five derringers and watch fell onto the floor. 

"And my gun?"

I looked directly at him. "What makes you so sure I have it? And that I can't leave, right now?"

"I know you have it. I saw it."

"You saw what?"

"My gun. Between your breasts. Hand it over or I'll have Meryl get it."

I looked back at the short, dark-haired woman and she nodded. "What?" she said. "Think I'll let him reach in that area?"

"Fine," I said at last. I unbuckled my belt and removed it and his gun hit the floor with a solid clank. I replaced it as he retrieved his gun. Now was my chance. I kicked him hard in the face and spun, knocked each girl's guns away and knocking them back. I went for the alarm, setting it to go off now, and made off the door. 

Vash made an attempt to stop me, but I had weapons. I through one of my iron balls at him; I had a whole pod on my belt for just this kind of scene. He knocked it into the alarm using his gun so the alarm went off again, broken. But now I was out the door. 

All three followed me quickly, and my luck ran out then and there. Three men walking close together and looking like bandits themselves caught me as I turned a corner, having done a good job of confusing the other trio a while back. Even worse, there were five more men conversing behind the three that caught me.

"Hey, beautiful," the buffest one said, catching my arm in an iron death-grip. "Where are you running off to?" He crushed my body against his, licking the side of my face. The other seven men saw me and started making perverse comments about how cute I would look screaming and so on.

Man number two spoke up, holding my chin in one meaty hand. "I know this face! She's a thief, and a damn good one at that! She's worth fifty thou if she's brought in, and even more if we could find her stash and return it!"

"But wouldn't the stash be worth more if we sell it the highest bidder?" man number three said. They all laughed.

Man number four yanked me a little too roughly out of the man number one's arms with my arms pinned painfully behind my back. I struggled for a second, getting a feel for his stance, and kicked back, hitting him right between the legs with a crunch. Man number two grabbed me like number four, only with one hand in my hair to hold it back, but in the most painful way. I cursed leaving my red hair long; the way it waved left for a good grip.

Man number one punched me, hard, in the stomach. I lurched forward as people did in pain but number two yanked my head back up.

I kicked back again, and then forward, throwing two into one and attacking the others quickly. Number seven hit me across the face with the back of his hand and I spun to hit the ground, getting one elbow up and coughing, blood falling from a spot were there used to be a molar.

Number six stomped hard on my head, and I heard a crack, knowing he probably just fractured a vertebrae. I was sure, as I saw eight's face on level with mine and unbelievably cruel, that I was going to die here, and these men were going to enjoy it. 

Number five yanked me up, off of the ground, and the others took turns hitting me, but making sure to not be too rough. They more than likely wanted me to suffer more than that before I died. And they were all laughing. I could barely stand when a distraction came.

"Let her go, now!"

Gods, it was that Vash guy again. Did I have to lose him so _well_? I saw him fight me; the two us of together would have no problem beating these brutes. I could open one eye still, thank the Gods. I saw he was pointing a gun at one, and the two girls were next to him, pointing their guns as well. The only thing different about him now was he had these yellow-orange round glasses on. He pulled the trigger, once, and I saw it nick one's ear, showing off his obvious skill in gun fighting. 

I took the chance and used it to my full potential. I hit five and knocked out three, giving seven a bloody nose and eight a broken arm. I stunned them each as best I could before scampering off, taking a spot to sit on a corner that was to the left of the trio, them standing in the middle of the street and all. That Milly girl edged over to where I was and knelt down, keeping her gun aimed at the group of men as though protecting me. This was new. The last time anybody ever protected me was when _he _was still alive. I shoved those thoughts out of my head as quickly as they came, focusing on the standoff. 

Which just now broke. The number men attacked the trio, and Milly stood, shooting her gun, which spat out something that looked like a plus sign and knocked them back as well. I could see Vash going out of his way to not kill anyone, or even use his gun, but Meryl had no problem with it. The fight took more time than it should have with him being so careful, but nonetheless they won. . . And then they turned to face me.

"Old buddies of yours?" Meryl asked, putting back her guns and glaring at me. 

I coughed, which was as close to a laugh as I could get. "Of course not. My luck just ran out last night. My moon was covered."

"What?"

"My moon was covered," I said again, as though this should be obvious. "Every month, if you'll notice, one small moon gets hidden behind the bigger one, and blocks its light. That's my moon that gets hidden. When it gets covered, my luck goes away. That simple."

She raise a brow at me, as though saying, "What planet are _you _from?" and shook her head.

"Are you going to stand there and stare for the rest of the day, or are you going to go back to your lives already?" I stood up, which was hard with the size of the bruise on my right thigh, and limped away. It would take some time for these wounds to heal, but I was a fast healer. To live in my life I kind of had to be. That Meryl girl caught my wrist and clamped something on it.

"I'm sorry, but even if you were got hurt, it was your own fault. It's my job to make sure nobody who commits a crime gets away without proper retribution for what you've done."

"Are these handcuffs?" I asked, tugging my arm.

"Yes."

"Okay." I twisted suddenly, knocking back the little woman and unlocking the cuffs. When the Milly shot one of those things at me I ducked under her arm, latching down one cuff and latched the other side to Meryl's foot. "Sayonara!" I cried, waving as I backed away. But wait a minute. . . Vash was gone. I spun, knowing where he was before I saw him just behind me. He made a grab for my hand and I shoved him away and leapt back a good five feet. "If you're an outlaw, then you should know my place. I stole nothing from you or your friends I didn't give back." I raised me hands so he could see they were empty. "No crime. You took everything I stole."

He wavered, I knew this much. He had to admit, I indeed hadn't committed a steal this night. But I still broke and entered a hotel, which shouldn't be a crime in the first place. He sighed, and I could tell he was going to just let me go. "You might want to get out of here before somebody else catches you."

I smiled at him. He was a good sport, after all. I winked and blew him a kiss as thanks and dashed off, taking my usual soundless and acrobatic leave. The two women were struggling to get out of their predicament and Meryl was screaming at Vash for letting me go and so on. But I didn't look back.

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What do all of you think of chapter one? Say something so I know if I ought to continue or let it die here.

See ya!


	2. My Life

Disclaimer: Isn't this always first? One way or another I'm going to have to find a way to permanently stick the 'disclaimer' to the beginning of each chapter I write . . . Damn things . . . *Sigh* I do not own Trigun. THERE!! I said it!! *Psychologists around the world cheer at the accomplishment*

But anyway. This is my third _written _Trigun fic. I dunno which is going up first. Eh, I might've already uploaded one; who knows. 

In a nutshell this is what might happen if a woman who had Vash's speed used it all for stealing and decided to steal from _him_, while he's _asleep _nonetheless.

And this here is . . . 

Chapter Two: My Life

As I sat in my room in a ruined three-story building I was using I couldn't but think. I was hurt, and pretty badly, having my back fractured like I thought and more bruises than I could count. That made sense, since I was so nearly covered in the damn impairments. I think _now _would be a good time for proper introductions, is it not? Well, let's start at the very beginning. And the beginning is my name.

Aluna Mayfield Carolina Hart. I was born exactly twenty seven years ago, on the planet called Firebreeze. It was named accurately; the place exploded with volcanoes and had uncontrollable and unpredictable winds. When I was five I sent away from the final disaster with my only friend, Nor. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I was a little firey red-head, playing tricks on people and so on, but never anything that bad. At the time I was taking classes on how to protect myself, as children did on my planet around that time. I was short for my age, but that only promised that I would get a grown spurt early on and become rather tall. I have deep dark blue eyes, as most people did on my planet. The clothing on my planet was much like the ones here, but more advanced so it had less stitch marks. My best friend Nor had pure white hair, cut short with my same eyes and was almost a foot taller than me at the time. He was usually the one to get ideas for tricks to play, no matter which one of us took the blame. We had a very, very good relationship that allowed infinite trust between us, and we'd never betray each other. 

Basically, my mother was a . . .not to say 'mean' but she believed that when a child did something wrong that both verbal and physical beratings were needed. My father had died years before, just a few short months after I was born, working on a project to try to either control or predict the sudden outbursts of the volcanoes and gusts of winds, which had been known to reach over three hundred miles per hour. His name was Rick Linny Hart, and my mother was Mayfield Serena Hart, maiden name Frint. I almost had a little brother, but just a few weeks before his due date she miscarried, and he was born. . .with his heart on the _outside _of his ribcage, and died after an hour. My mom never really got over it, but afterwards she learned how precious I was and lightened up quite a bit. On my fifth birthday _exactly _is when the disaster happened. 

Somebody had tinkered with the innermost core of the planet, and set it ablaze. We had just minutes to get off of the planet before it was to explode, and at that moment Nor was giving me my best birthday present ever. It was a crystal heart, or rather, the equivalent of it. It was a clear red gem, found in clumps and had to be carefully crafted so it wouldn't shatter, and it shimmered in every color. We called it Blaze, after the way it looked like a blazing red fire. It was bigger that his own hand, and he was eight at the time. He knew long before I did that we were in love, and did everything he could to help me reach that realization. I still have the heart, though by now it was worth several billion double dollars even in this old west place. It was the very last piece of Blaze left in the known universe. 

Nor had hugged me after I accepted it, and the scene was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and probably ever will. Despite Firebreeze's horrible natural disasters, it was still the most breathtaking place I had ever seen of late. 

There was wildflowers of the most exotic type you could find, some that were violet with one huge flowers and several stems inside of it, branching into a thousand miniature flowers per stem, and there was a whole field of them mixed in with a dozen other of just as, if not more, exotic flowers. At that time it was P.M., and because of where we were, the sky was littered with billion upon trillions of colorful stars, and seven moons circled above us. They moved quickly, but because we had two suns that moved together, there was never anything but full moons. They were eight more moons on the other side of the planet at the time, and only once every eight hundred years did all of the moons be in sight. If I had been able to stay on Firebreeze, I would've seen that in little more than thirty years. I was lucky, or so I thought.

We sat, the two of us, for about half an hour, before the shakes began. Nor took it as something bad instantly, and helped me up and kept me upright the entire time we ran back to his father's lab. That's where we met the first time, when my father and his were colleges and my mom went with him to check over their work, when I was little more than three weeks old. Even though Nor was about to turn three in another few days, one look at me and he said "I'm going to marry her." And the scary part was, he hadn't been told my name or gender yet. It really gets you thinking. After my father died, I spent a lot of time there, as my mom trusted his dad to make sure I wouldn't get into trouble while she worked to provide for us. But I'm getting off the subject. 

My mother was still at work at the time, and the first thing Nor's dad said was for us to get in an escape pod and start leaving. But I wouldn't have that; I didn't want to go without my mother. Nor agreed to wait until the last possible second, but even when that second arrived, she had not found us, and we couldn't wait any longer. And by that time, the planet looked _nothing _like its usual gorgeous scenery. 

The ground was splitting, shooting flames and bursting with lava, creating all sizes and ranges of fires and the sky had turned black with ash and burned people. The smell of burned fat hung heavily in the air, and I knew it was all the people I knew and even loved and their homes and parents and children. It scared me to know end, seeing people screaming and running and lit on fire and trying to et away from the infernos but being trapped by it. Nor's father tried his best to kill the flames, but when the planet began to shake unbelievably and tear in half, he pushed a button on a control panel and sent us up into space, away from the death of the only home we knew. Nor was both crying at the loss of his father and clinging to me as I clung to him. I'd never cried so hard before in my life, and never wanted to again. My mother had surely died in those flames, and I was powerless to stop it. For a long time we cried and wished our parents were back, and held each other as tightly as we could. When the pod first took off I was screaming for my mother, hoping against hope hat I would see her running up and could open the door and let her in. I don't know how long we were drifting in space, hours, days, minutes. . . All I knew was that by the time we landed I was tired and hungry and had a headache and was just _numb_.

Nor protected me with his own body when we crashed down on some planet, and now that I think back I'm glad he did. There was so many pieces of metal and pipes and things inside the pod that I would've seriously gotten hurt if he didn't. I had no clue how to get out, but Nor did; he pushed buttons on something like another control panel and the door opened, but from above us. We landed on our side or something to that effect. When we finally made it out and looked around, I got the worst case of homesickness in history.

You see, my planet was covered in life. Flowers, trees, people, creatures that looked much like birds and lizards and so on, but the planet we landed on had nothing in sight. Literally. In every direction I looked, I saw nothing but sand and sand getting blown around by the wind. I was so lost and confused that I did the very first thing that came to me: I latched onto Nor's arm and didn't let go. It was daytime, and though I couldn't quite see I had the distinct feeling that there was more than just one sun here. I could only hope I was wrong. 

Nor always had good judgment, so when he chose a direction to travel in I didn't protest. We both gathered what we could carry from the pod, things like a stash of water and Ito, which is what we called this planet's _bread_. Even after more than twenty years it still feels funny to say. We traveled for what felt like weeks, trying to shade each other during the day and cover the most ground at night. If I had anything to check the time with every so often, I would've brought it, though it would do little good on this planet. Firebreeze's days were about seventeen hours long, and the nights were on average twenty three. Forty hour days were a normal thing on Firebreeze, and I still miss _that _even. 

We reached a town one day after I looked at the moons and saw for the first time how they worked, and had picked out my moon. It was full that night, and I couldn't help but feel lucky and capable of anything. But nonetheless, I was terrified of this new planet's people, even if they _did _look just like us. I stayed mostly behind Nor the entire time we looked around the town, holding on tightly. I knew he was looking confident and like he knew where he was going on purpose, because I could feel the way he, too, trembled and knew then that he was as scared as I was. We found something like a alley and slept there that night, hidden in a corner in hopes no one would see us. 

The next morning when I opened my eyes I remember thinking that I was back home, comfortable in my own bed. But I wasn't. Somebody had found us the previous night, when we were dead asleep and apparently had decided on taking care of us. Nor and myself were still clinging to each other when I began to notice my surroundings, and that kept me from screaming my little head off. He was still asleep, too, lying halfway on top of me as I had noticed he did a lot, almost as though to protect me even while he slept. Of course, I didn't mind. It felt really nice to be held as I slept and more than that it made me feel safe, as he must have believed it would. I couldn't thank him enough for that.

I woke Nor up, shaking his shoulder lightly, and whispering his name. When he looked at me I pointed at everything I could, afraid that saying something would alert somebody that we were awake. Nor just smiled. 

As I think back I can't remember the exact words we used, but I knew what he said to me that morning. "The stars are kind to us today. Don't worry, they'll take care of us. Just have trust in their ability."

He was always like that. Just about everything he said was related to stars or moons or Gods and other such things, and somehow it never failed to relax me. I always believed him, and still do. Perhaps his undying trust in what he believed is what fueled my belief in my moon, but somehow, over time, I began to notice I shared his beliefs as well. But again, I'm getting off the subject.

We got and inspected the room, inch by inch, and found there was another set of clothes for each of us waiting. Whoever had found us must've had a feeling we would stay, at least long enough to get some clothes and food and so on. We laughed out of joy as we changed our clothes, happy that we finally had a break after God knows how long in that forsaken field of sand. Just as we opened the door to look around some more somebody on the other side opened it, laughing about something or other, probably a shared joke. It was an old plump woman, with a bun of stringy white hair, light blue dress and white apron, with smile lines and brown eyes and square spectacles. She knelt down in front of us and giggled about how cute we looked and how we were _poor things _to have to live outside on the street and so on. I was hiding behind Nor again, who had one of his hands on my arm to keep me calm. I know hat sounds strange, but I had both of my arms around his waist at the time. 

"Miss?" he said, gaining her attention. "How did we get here?"

"Oh, my lovely daughter found you there in that dark, dirty alleyway and couldn't just turn away," she said, with something like an Irish accent. Very faint, however. "So she called up my son - her brother - and each of them carried one of you and she gave up her own room for you two o sleep in. What you're wearing now is their clothes, recently washed. Oh," she said, placing her hands over her heart, "I've so waited for a day when God would bless me with children again." She sighed, still smiling, and dropped her hands. "What are yer names children?" she asked, still holding that unbelievable smile.

"I'm Nor," he said. He patted my arm. "This is Aluna."

"What beautiful names!" she cried, and she got up, gesturing us to follow her as she told us her name was Bunni and skipped away. Well, not really, but however she did walk on was a lot like it.

Nor and I followed her as she said, having nowhere else to go. I never once let go of him, and we tripped twice because of it. We ended up in something like a kitchen where three people were sitting. One old man, a young woman and a young man. I could tell that the old man was Bunni's husband, and the man and woman were the two that brought us here. Bunni introduced her children first, Cathy and Edward, and then her husband Marc, who couldn't be less interested in us.

Bunni pulled out chairs for us, and I took the one farthest from Marc, and then she placed two plates in front of us. Thinking back I knew it was eggs, bacon and toast, but at the time it looked disgusting and not something you were supposed to eat. Even more confusing was when she put pieces of metal, a fork and butter knife, in front of us. I just looked at Nor, who was a confused as I was. He decided to ask about it.

"What is all this?" he said, gesturing at it.

Bunni laughed. "It's food, silly! And those are silverware. A fork and a butter knife. Don't you know how to use them?"

"We've never seen them before."

"Oh! You poor, poor things! You've never had a good meal in your poor little lives!" Bunni went on and on about what we were supposed to do with the food and forks but I never really got it. 

After a while Nor got the guts to actually _taste _it, if nothing else. He looked like he was being careful about it, seeing as how he'd never used a fork before in his life, and I just kept thinking _poison. _But he smiled. He looked at me and swallowed. "It tastes like garnet."

"_Really_?" I asked, looking down at it. Bunni gasped.

"You've been eating rocks!" she claimed, tears coming to her eyes.

"No," Nor said. They must not know about other planets yet. "Where we come from, that's just what we call it." I could tell he was wondering why somebody would name a rock after a delicious type of food, as I was, but he kept it out of his eyes. He looked at me again and smiled. "It's a little less sweet, and not as. . .fluffy as garnet, but it's good." He couldn't really get the fork down, I could tell, but he tried anyway. If this was how things worked here, then we were going to have to learn. As far as we knew, this was our last home. 

Even as I tried to get used to the fork Bunni droned on and on, Nor answering every now and again. She asked if we were brother and sister, and Nor just shook his head, not really giving an answer. At one point Cathy leaned over to talk with me, but I was still too scared and jumped, directly out of my chair. Nor kind of spun out of his chair and helped me up, whispering in my ear that he could tell these people were alright and not to get so scared so easily. I felt like crying there, mainly for being stupid. A tough, uncomfortable silence followed, and Bunni broke it by claiming we needed baths.

We both sparked at that; that was one of the words we shared on both planets. Oh God, a _bath_. . .

Bunni led us outside the house and into another, much smaller house, like the size of a shed. It had a huge bath in it, though not too deep, and as she went to get water we both stripped down, laughing and wanting nothing more than to be clean. After the bath was filled we splashed each other, playing silly games for amusement and, after a good hour or so, finally got around to using soap. 

That evening we got showed around the house, taught what did what and how things worked here, and Nor feigned being incredibly slow so I could catch it all. We didn't worry so much about their food as well, just associating it with foods we already knew. While Cathy and Edward taught us, or rather _me_ about every little thing Bunni was gone, making up a spare room with a bed and so on, so we could stay. Marc just grumbled about how he didn't want to hear us screaming ad running about all the time, and Nor pointedly assured him "we would not do such a thing on a daily basis" getting odd looks from everyone present. 

While in bed Nor and I spoke about how odd it was to have such short days, now that we really had a sense of time. As normal human beings we only needed around eight or nine hours of sleep a night, but since this was the first time since the planet's explosion that was could sleep soundly, we slept for over twelve hours, catching up on all the sleep we missed in the mean time.

The next morning was just like the previous one, only we had calmed down quite a bit. We talked and laughed and answered questions and took another bath, again playing oddball games and splashing each other. When night came we got taught again, and then ate and were sent off to bed. Of course, we couldn't sleep so easily, and stayed up all night playing games as quietly as we could. 

We slept every thirty-two hours, which the family noticed, but they didn't really ask about it. This routine became a daily basis, and we all were fine with it. Eventually our sleep time changed, fitting more comfortably at being awake just thirty hours, and ever since that's where it stayed. We had a wonderful life there, and after a full year I was five inches taller and Nor was two, making me still nine inches below him. On that year's morning we got surprised when we woke up, still sleeping in the same bed, when we saw their entire family smiling and wearing colored pointed hats and holding a cake, which we had had before. I sat up quickly, waking up Nor in the process, and he looked stunned by the family's sudden presence there. Bunni handed each of us a box and Cathy placed the cake before us, telling us each to make a wish in our heads and blow out the candles in one breath to make it come true. Neither of us were sure about _why_ we had to do this, but it seemed like a special day so we didn't ask questions. I made my wish for us to never separate, and Nor made his, whatever it was. I smiled at him as he did me and in one breath we blew out the candles, which totaled at fifteen. 

Bunni told us to open the presents in our laps so we did, knowing what they were by Christmas being just five months back. I got a gold necklace with half a heart on it that said "BEST" and Nor got another one with the other half of the heart that said "FRIENDS." I pulled up my hair and let Nor put mine on me as I did him, and we both in unison thanked this family we now called our own. But pain still lay ahead, as I learned that very night.

Nor and I were talking, outside and staring at the stars as we so often did, when Bunni called us in. Something about the stars that night made me feel uneasy, and after another few minutes I found out why. Just as we were getting into bed I was bombarded with thoughts of my mother, my father, and my home in the sky. It hit me so hard I collapsed and started to cry, not even feeling it when Nor came to my side and tried to hold me. He obviously didn't know the exact reason why I was crying, but it was just as obvious that it was about Firebreeze. 

When a knock sounded on the door and Bunni asked what was going on, Nor told her it was nothing he couldn't handle himself and tried his best to calm me down. I knew it hurt him to see me like I was, crying and unable to stop. All he could do was hold me close and wait for me to calm down enough to tell him what I was crying about in the first place. That took quite a while, I knew that much, but Nor refused to tell me for how long. I told him I missed my mother, wished I had gotten to know my father, and missed all the beauties of Firebreeze and so on. Nor empathized for a while, and then changed the subject. He was really good at that.

I don't what part about the game we were talking about lightened my mood, but suddenly I found myself talking enthusiastically about it, and wondering if there were other children who would like to play it and so on. Eventually Nor had me laughing again, but that did nothing to make me forget. For the past few months the two of us had no reason to cling while we slept, and usually we didn't even touch each other, but tonight we kind of needed that. We fell asleep curled up together. 

Over the next three years I had very few emotional breakdowns, and Nor had a few of his own, but all in all we had excellent control over ourselves and our emotions. I was nine now and Nor twelve, and for some reason every now and again while he spoke his voice went high. I know now why that was so, but at the time I had no clue and just made fun of him for it. But life brings back to you what you put out, I learned. When I turned fourteen I had my very first menstrual cycle, and it was hell. Bunni had told me before that it was going to happen soon and that it was normal and I shouldn't get scared, but I thought I was _dying. _The entire time Bunni tried to explain to me it was fine and I didn't need a doctor and so on Nor was laughing, continually saying "Roundabout is fair play!" just to make me regret making fun of him. 

Oh, he _paid **dearly **_for that. Later that night, when I got everything figured out and under control, I started whacking him with my pillow before he could retaliate. I managed to get him face-down on the bed we _still _shared after all this time and sat on him, hitting him again and again on the head to make him pay. At this time I had my hair long, reaching my hips, and Nor was super-tall and his hair reached his earlobes, but short beneath that. It was a nice hair-style on him, and I _so **hated **_to mess it up like this, _not_! Eventually he got a block in and managed to flip over, making me fall over with a squeak. He spun around and pinned my wrists beside my head, playfullness the most dominant sparkle in his eyes at the time, but that quickly faded. We both realized, in that instant, that we were man and woman, having gone through puberty and he was lying on top of me on our bed on the lucky full moon night and the house deserted. 

The family had gone out, and we had decided on staying behind, which was probably the luckiest thing I ever let happen. Well, besides when Nor for the first time kissed me.

I'll skip over all the details and just tell you that I was _very _happy it happened and couldn't think of anything that felt better in my entire life, not even on my fifth birthday and the present Nor had given me. Which reminds me, I kept that heart with me. It sat on my nightstand, on a stand Nor gave me on my _true _sixth birthday, and it never really moved from there. I'm not sure if it was Nor's question or my answer that finally made our relationship official, but it was one of the two. For a while we tried to keep it a secret, but the way we stopped taking baths together was probably the biggest sign, right next to the sudden need to cuddle while we slept all over again. You should've seen Bunni's face when she found out and crowed she just _knew _it was going to happen soon and so on. But Bunni was getting pretty old; a month before we celebrated her seventieth birthday and Marc was already dead, having died the previous year. 

Cathy was married by then, and had twins, and Edward was shyly taking one certain blonde on dates every night. Bunni kept crying and laughing about how her children were growing up so fast and that included us, seeing as how she took it upon herself to make sure we knew to call her "Mom" and always sighed when we did. It felt a little strange, considering it was like she adopted us and now we were together and called her _mom _of all things, but it didn't matter. It wasn't like every person in this town didn't know who we were and which family we lived with and so on. 

On Nor's eighteenth birthday he went out and got a job, making money with his skills he learned on Firebreeze, which made him an indispensable worker. I did the same, finding I could get a job at a recently opened martial artist center that almost no one took seriously. Of course, hardly anyone took _me _seriously since I was just sixteen and a woman at that. But it helped me remember how to do that type of self-defense and _that _helped me teach it to others. That place, just like the mechanical place Nor worked at, boomed in sales since we started working, and after I hit age seventeen we showed Bunni how much we made and she nearly had a heart attack. We repaid her back for how kind she had been to us by giving her a new house and a nurse to make sure she was always healthy and had someone to keep her company, considering Edward finally moved out with his new wife. Nor and I went to visit her each day after we got of work.

On my eighteenth birthday Nor actually went out and bought us a house to live in, although I didn't know since he had me blindfolded along the way there. We got what we had out of our adopted home and moved it all into the new one, getting everything we had settled in one _long_ day. Nor, in the meantime, had kept the bedroom off limits, which got me thinking but not too deeply. I was used to his surprises by now and knew better than to spoil them. 

In the time it took to unpack I noticed a few things about myself. One, my training and teaching had made my footsteps not even there, and I could sneak up on Nor a lot. I also noticed how smooth my movements had become, and found I could steal things that he was _wearing_, like a bracelet or tie. He always looked so shocked when he found out it wasn't even funny. For a while I thought he was faking being surprised, but I'll get to that later. 

When Nor finally let me in the bedroom, he had his hands over my eyes. I was giggling all the way. When he pulled his hands back, I gasped. I don't know how he did it, but somehow or another he'd found plants or grown them and the room was literally covered in them. None of them were like home, but this was as close as this planet could get, so I knew he did a _lot _to get a hold of them. And then he did the most romantic thing a guy could do. He gave me this whole speech about how much he loved me and wanted me to marry him and thought that it would make for a lovely memory if we made love that night, and I couldn't help but kiss him as thanks for everything he did.

But the worst part was, our life in that house didn't last very long. We'd spent little more than a few months in that house before my moon became hidden again, and the bad luck that followed was positively the _worst _thing that could happen. You know how sometimes something so bad will happen and you think it can't get any worse, and then you say it and it does? _That's _the kind of "worst" thing that happened. 

Somebody broke in, I still don't know who, and when Nor and I woke up it was to a pair of guns to our heads. I was fine with letting him take what money we had; we could get it again, but Nor had other ideas. My Blaze heart was among those possessions, and he wasn't going to give it up without a fight. And then. . .the gun went off, and Nor. . .he didn't get up again. I don't know what possessed me to fight this guy off, but somehow my speed increased and I not only got the guns from him, but took back everything he tried to steal from us, and mercilessly threw him out the four-story window. I still don't know exactly what made me think if I kept Nor company he'd wake up, but for some reason I cuddled up to him and forced myself to fall asleep, and woke up with the worst state of reality the universe could give.

I screamed and cried and had a really hard time letting Nor go, him being the absolute last thing I had in my life. For whatever reason I couldn't let anybody else see him like this, and buried him myself. It was hard to let him go but I had no choice, now did I? Whatever possessed me then told me to get what I could carry and leave, so I did. I packed up my clothes and money, and carefully wrapped up my Blaze heart, and left on foot, without a second look back. I marked Nor's grave behind my house so that when Bunni came looking for us she'd find him, and left a note on my bed - which I hadn't bothered to change the sheets so it was still soaked in blood - so Bunni would know all of it. The body outside of the thief I left there, and I don't know if it was found or identified. All I knew was that I was gone, leaving behind my life and starting a new one. But this time, I would not be so kind about it. I started to use my skill in speed, agility, and sneaking, and became the best cat bandit this world had ever seen. Now I have fifty thousand on my head to be found and caught, but that's because they only found so many clues that could lead them to me in all the burglaries I did.

My entire life followed that path, and now, as I lay injured on the floor of my current housing, I know for a fact that no matter what will follow after me, I have no choice left but to face it with a vengeance. I blame the universe for killing my family and my lover, my love, and I will not rest until I receive proper compensation for that. It may take until the day I die, or beyond, but it _will _be done, for I was never a woman to just lose.

-Aluna Hart

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Whew! That took a while, didn't it? I have a few thanks to give out to the reviewers.

****

Ghosts-girl23

Nicole

Thanks!! Seriously, as long as somebody wants the story to play out, I'll finish it. Hoped ya like it. 

(Chapter one had exactly 4,601 words. That makes it the longest chapter I've ever written, by a thousand!)

See ya!


	3. Hello Again

Disclaimer: Isn't this always first? One way or another I'm going to have to find a way to permanently stick the 'disclaimer' to the beginning of each chapter I write . . . Damn things . . . *Sigh* I do not own Trigun. THERE!! I said it!! *Psychologists around the world cheer at the accomplishment*

But anyway. This is my third _written _Trigun fic. I dunno which is going up first. Eh, I might've already uploaded one; who knows. 

In a nutshell this is what might happen if a woman who had Vash's speed used it all for stealing and decided to steal from _him_, while he's _asleep _nonetheless.

And this here is . . . 

Chapter Three: Hello Again

I woke up slowly, as I always did on days I was healing, and found I was clutching my Blaze Heart. Again. Every now and again I'd wake up with it in my hands, and it never ceased to amaze me. I never take it out the night before; I must be a sleep-walker or something, because I never believed in magic. Moon luck or no moon luck, magic was not something I thought could be real. I smiled a little and brought it closer to my chest, and lastly I sighed. Thoughts of Nor tended to calm me down, as long as I didn't relive _that _memory. No, if I ever thought of it again I'd. . .go mad or something of the like. I just couldn't allow myself to think about it.

Trying to get my mind off of that trail I turned to lie on my back, and caught something out of the corner of my eye. Something red, and pretty dang big. I sat up, almost to quickly, and narrowed my eyes at the intruder.

"Are you stalking me?" I asked, my voice turning unbelievably feminine in that instant. Now, _that _was new. Usually my voice was just cold, without emotion or thought. Huh.

"You're hurt," the other said. Stupid man. Not enough that I just _had _to steal from him, and then get _saved _by him, but now he wants to take _care _of me? This guy can't be an outlaw. No way. 

"Yeah, so I noticed. Listen, I don't _have _anything of yours or your friends so just leave, okay? I don't need your help." He looked up, and I saw that he had those yellowish glasses on again. Uh-huh. Did that suddenly make him worth listening to or something? _Men._

"It doesn't matter if you need help or not, it's still my responsibility to - "

"Down, boy," I said. I stood up, careful of my fractured back and horribly bruised leg. You ought to see the lump on it. "I'm my own responsibility, thank you very much. I don't know what got into your head to make you think that suddenly you have to take care of me, but I've been through worse before and don't need anything this time or the next so just back off and go do whatever it is you do!"

"This _is _what I do," he argued, standing up as well. "If I'd have made it to you earlier you wouldn't look like this now, so just let me try to make up for it."

I shook my head sharply, giving myself a headache in the process. I tightened my hand around my heart as though Nor could give me advice on this point. He was good at that. "If I hadn't decided to rob that hotel then I wouldn't have gotten caught by you and wouldn't have run directly into those guys, so this is technically _my _fault and you can just go. I don't want nor need you here, so just go and let me deal with my own aches and pains." Something was dawning on me as I said all of this, I interrupted him and let me go with it, and let me finish what I was saying every time I spoke. Damn, what was _with _this guy?

"I'm involved now; I can't just turn and go. I saw the way you got up; your back's badly hurt, isn't it? And you should just be glad I didn't decide to let Meryl turn you in."

"_This _coming from the sixty billion double dollar man?" I snapped. Gods, if I didn't calm down, and soon, I was going to crush my heart and have nothing left of Nor. _That _got me. I loosened my grip and brought the thing up to my chest, hoping it'd give me more patience to deal with this guy. 

"Is that one the things you stole?" he asked, pointing at my chunk of Blaze.

"It's Blaze, and why do you care? It's mine." I brought my arm behind my back to hide it, rather pathetically, but I hid it. 

"If you took that you're going to have to give it back," he said, trying to get it from me. 

"No!" I snapped. I couldn't fight like this, I knew that, but if he tried to get it too many more times I was going to have to _hurt _him. "Back off! I didn't take it; it was a gift!"

"From who?" he snapped, as though challenging me.

"I can't tell!" I snapped back, not wanting to delve into my thoughts of Nor out loud. That always made me break down. Thinking wasn't too bad, but talking killed. 

"I knew it!" he said, actually getting a grip on it. I yelled at him and then dropped my weight, effectively taking it back and out of his grip. 

I curled up, sitting on the floor, in my best defense technique to keep in with me. If I lost this, if it was taken away. . .I didn't want to think of that possibility. 

Apparently he was starting to believe me, since I was halfway to Tearstown by now. "Just go away!" I said, my voice breaking. Not now, oh Gods, not now. . . Once a year, at least, I would sit down and cry, just cry, for hours on end, simply because it was necessary if I were to keep up my life of being cold and without mercy. 

I heard one step taken, but I knew it wasn't _away_ from me. It was towards me, and I suddenly got the reminder of Nor, as though I needed it, when I broke down another time and wanted him to leave and let me pour out my emotions, and he just came closer and hugged me until I was better. And this man, this outlaw, this avenger, was doing that exact same thing. I could feel it, the way his arms went around me to try to comfort me, the way he was almost overly careful where he knew I was hurt, and the way his voice softened when he spoke.

"Hey, come on now, I didn't mean to make you cry. If it means that much to you I won't take, really," he said. 

Stupid man, he didn't even know why I was crying. Wait - I was crying? I hadn't realized, but yes, my cheeks were wet and dripping onto my lap and my Blaze, and I was shaking pretty badly. I had my head down, on my knees, and my left arm was around my legs. My right arm was against my chest, still clinging to the last piece of my life. My fingers even now couldn't reach around it fully, but that made it more worthwhile to hang on to. "It's not the heart, it's who gave it to me," I said, my words unbroken as I had at least a _little _control left. Nonetheless, my voice shook as I spoke. And even worse, I sounded pitiful. 

"So who gave it to you?" 

Okay, that sent me back. Well, not that I'd already broken down, I guess I could talk without worry of **breaking down **now couldn't I? "Nor. Nor gave it to me, when I was five."

"Who's Nor?"

"The guy who gave me this!" I snapped, pushing him back and thrusting the heart directly under his nose. I don't know what took me over then, but suddenly I was talking fast and spilling my entire story to him, from the first memory I had of Nor to Firebreeze's explosion to Bunni and to Nor's murder and finally to why I steal things so often. I left out details and finished the entire thing in less then five minutes. 

Well, he was _shocked _for one thing, but the part that shocked me was that _he _now looked like _he _was going to **_cry_**. Okay, this guy has officially flipped his lid. No guy, no matter how weird or emotional, would cry over some other girl's story. But then, that wasn't true. Nor would've, and as far as I could tell, this guy was like his double, only sillier and did strange things along with an obsession with donuts, of all things. 

And just now he broke. He reached out, taking my left hand between his, and bowed his head, talking and crying at the same time. "I'm sorry, that's a horrible thing to go through, is there anything I can do," and so on. I just sat, listening to this _idiot _as far as I was concerned, stunned. He was still clutching my hand, as though that'd help the both of us, and crying harder than _I _was. I could do little more at this point than just blink. Strange guy, this Vash. 

So I did the very next thing I could. I broke out laughing. Just like that. I threw my head back and laughed like I'd just witnessed the funniest thing on this planet, and quite frankly, I had. I knew he was looking at me like I had a split personality or something of the like, but I didn't care. This guy was hilarious! And the strangest thing was, he didn't seem to know it! Oh, well. Maybe I'll tell him that, sometime. _Maybe._

Next thing I knew he was laughing, too. And after a while I started to calm down, and though he had his eyes closed, he looked at me. "Why are we laughing?" he said, having finished.

That sent me giggling all over again. I stopped to wipe my eye and chuckled once more, getting up with my Blaze in hand and going to put it back in its wrapping and bag. Yes, I still wrapped it up. It's about as fragile as a diamond, but I can't help it. It has to be safe. It _has _to be. But I couldn't leave Vash wondering, now could I? "I was laughing at _you_." I turned to face him, seeing him no longer sitting but just a few feet away from me. That, like nearly everything else, didn't startle me at all. I was expecting him to move, and I heard him get up.

Something else caught my eye, something in the smashed window that happened to be black. A lone black cat was in it, and it mewed at me. Then hopped away. Okay, that was strange. I shook my head. I must be having hallucinations or something. 

"I'm funny?"

"You're very funny," I replied, not missing a beat. 

He tilted his head a little, and I noticed that he wasn't wearing those orangish glasses anymore. How did I miss that? I never miss a detail. What am I, relaxed? That's impossible. "How am I so funny?"

"You cried over my story, which, for all you know, could be a big lie just to get you to leave me alone." 

"Did I leave?" he said, as though that proved I was telling the truth. Somehow or another, that made sense. If I really was lying to get him to go, I could've done a lot better than that. Hell, I've done better than that a dozen times. Only, it rarely worked on any men that happened to listen. Funny, I had a feeling if I _had _lied, he would've known. Despite my act, my perfected act, he probably would've known. Strange guy, this Vash. 

Thinking along those lines reminded me I never once said his name, and he didn't say mine either. Wait - did I even give him my name? I don't think so. Damn, I never pay attention to that! But I was speaking now, even if I was still pondering in my mind. "Did we ever have a proper introduction?"

"I don't think so," he said, slowly, as though trying to read my intentions. Good. He knew to be wary of me. He's learning quick.

I held out my hand. "Aluna Hart."

He looked questionable for another few seconds before taking my hand. "Vash the Stampede."

"Nice to meet you," I said, shaking his hand.

"Likewise," he replied, smiling. Looks like I finally got to him. A part of me wanted to play a trick Like I used to, like throwing him over my shoulder or pretending his grip was too strong for me and so on. But, I resisted. I had to. Now was not the time and I wasn't in the best physical shape to toss him around a few times or anything of the like. Silly me, to even think of it and realize that there _is _temptation to play there. I never play; not anymore, anyway. I have a serious life in taking back what was stolen from me, and I couldn't just stop to tickle a grown man who was - in a nutshell - offering to be my servant for something he didn't do or cause. Weird.

I took my hand back and thought quickly, trying to avoid awkward silences and so on. "Where are those girls?"

He shrugged. "Off doing whatever they have to."

"Just what _do _they do?"

"They're insurance girls. Right now they're here to make sure I don't get into trouble, but it doesn't do any good."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Trouble seems to be stalking me. I never really can get away from it. The most recent is _you_," he added, narrowing one eye at me like a disciplining father. 

I laughed and shook my head; this guy was really getting to me. I never laugh or chuckle or any such thing; not anymore. Did he have this effect on everyone? I hope not. That'd just be scary. After all, I spent nine years becoming cold-hearted and controlled, perfectly poised and the best in my field, and if he melts my ice-covered heart, what will it do to the rest of me? That means I have to get rid of him before he can worm his way into the rest of me, before he can disrupt my perfectly running inner system and constantly clicking mind. My defenses were good enough that if someone tried to throw a wrench in my life it wouldn't get that far, but this guy could very well break down my defenses and leave me helpless against that wrench, and he doesn't even know it. But how do you tell someone they could very well ruin you and your life? And to this guy? Is it even possible? If not, I'm going to have to heal faster than ever to get rid of him, before my whole life crashes around me.

But something was bugging me, scratching at the back of my head. I looked around the room, ignoring Vash if only for the moment, trying to catch a glimpse of just what could be bothering me _now_. And then it hit me. My flower!

I turned sharply and picked up my bag of water, heading straight for the pot and newly sprouting bud in it. I poured some water on it, slowly, until it disappeared beneath the soil, the soil I had to _dig _for after I found the struggling seed. I don't know what type this was, but despite my choice in life, I always had an appreciation for flowers, and I had been nurturing this for three weeks, taking it with me and keeping an eye on it so I can make sure it was alright. One thing I never admitted to myself, while I was with Nor, was that I wanted a child. I took precautions to avoid it, actually, and now I was regretting it. Taking care of living things brought my hazardous life peace, and calmed my spirit just as well as meditations would. But this tiny bud depended on me, and I had an obligation now to be sure it lived and grew and spread its own seeds and so on. It was my baby.

So what if it was a plant?

"What's that?"

I was expecting that. I knew very well he was right behind me, and I was kneeling, which meant he was either sitting or bent over, since his voice came from just above my shoulder. "I'm not sure just yet. I think it's a flower, but I'm going to have to wait to find out. I found the seed about three weeks ago, and. . .I don't know. Something about raising another living creature makes me calm. And you've got to admit," I said with a tiny laugh, "taking care of a plant is a lot easier than raising a human child."

"Yeah, I guess it would be," he laughed back, and I turned enough to look at him. Something about his eyes then, looking at that bud, made me think I'd just proved to him I was a good person. It was strange, but I got this feeling that just because I had a sprouting plant in a pot that I watered, I suddenly had his trust or was on his good side, whatever you might want to call it. It was like he was accepting me, if he hadn't fully before. He looked at me. "What is it? Do I have something on my face?"

"Yeah," I said, before I could stop myself. "The most adorable smile I've ever seen." Hearing my own voice say this made me look away, fighting and losing against a blush, and leaving myself wondering what it was I saw in that guy. A kid? No way. First of all, I know very well he's got to be older than me; his eyes prove that with the wisdom they hold. Second, _he _was here to take care of _me_. And third, when did I start wanting a child so badly I thought about nurturing the child in a grown man? Honestly, I've got to stop feeling. This was going to drive me nuts.

"Adorable?" he repeated. "My smile's adorable? Thanks! You're the first person that's ever said that!" I bit back a groan at his statement, trying to shut it out, but like that was possible. He hugged me, which in turn made my eyes bulge. Gods, this was getting so annoying! But on the other hand, it felt nice to be held again. I never knew how much I missed it until now, and even though I liked the reminder of a time when I didn't have these worries, I was hating it. I hated feeling, I hated being reminded, I hated feeling like I was worth something, and I hated, hated, _hated_ this man who hadn't let go yet. So what if I _liked _him? I still hate him. He's destroying me!

I must've growled or something, because now he drew back, and spoke with that same concern in his voice that got me to spill my life story. I _hate _that voice.

"What's wrong? You're so tense all of a sudden. Is it because I hugged you? Am I invading your personal space? Did I say something wrong?"

__

Yes, it's the hug, I thought. But _no_, I didn't mind it. I have no personal space, so _no _again, but _yes_, you're invading my mind, the most personal type of space a person can have! _Yes_, you said _everything _wrong, but _no _it's not your fault in any way. Gods, what's _wrong _with me? I'm conflicting with myself! That's never happened! Why does _this _guy have to be the first one since Nor to look at me? I _hate _this! I hate it I hate it I hate it!

"Aluna? Are you okay? You're not responding."

I snapped out of my thoughts and leaned forward, against my arm that was level with what was left of the window. I sighed. "Of course I'm not okay," I said, surprising myself with my need to be honest with this guy. "I'm bruised from head to toe, I have a fractured vertebrae, I just spilled my guts to you, and you're wrecking my entire internal working system. I can't think without arguing with myself anymore. Can't you leave yet?" I said, even though my thoughts were saying _no_, I don't want him to leave; not yet. I miss the companionship. "Stupid internal conflicts," I muttered, wishing my mind would stop disagreeing with my heart - or the other way around. I forget which is which. Neither seemed to be working properly.

"Oh, okay," he said, and I felt him get up. I wanted to spin around and grab his arm, to keep him from going, but at the same time I was forcing myself to stay put and crowing that he was finally going to go away and leave me to my life of solitude and stealing. After all, I had my life, my Blaze heart, my plant, and my internal working system, defenses up and waiting for the wrench. Isn't that all I needed?

__

Stupid girl!! my mind said. He was here, and willing to make your life better, and all you can think is "all I need is my internal working system" and be _done _with it? Go stop him! Quick! You hurt him, and now you have to make up for it!

I didn't hurt him, I argued with myself. But I still wasn't sure what part of me was speaking. My heart, my mind, my soul, my life; which was it? They all seemed to be talking, and each had a different opinion. Including that little black cat that was here before. Like I wasn't having enough inner turmoil; now it came form _outside. _It seemed to be condemning me for letting go of the one thing, the one _person_, that could very well melt my ice and heal my burnt soul. But I couldn't take it back; my working life took _nine **years **_to get just right - if I let that get destroyed now it could take nine _more _years to pick up the wrench and start all over.

I can't decide anything like this, I thought. I had to calm myself down and weigh one side against the other and figure out pros and cons to a new life. The only way I knew to do that is to quiet myself, inside and out, and block out all outside noise. I had to - oh, this sounded _so _like a cliché - but I had to find the answer in myself, through the only way I knew. I had to meditate. It's not like it'd be my first time searching for an answer within myself, but this time it could make or break me, and I was frightened of what I might find there. I've taken little trips to my innermost mind, and found things there that have helped and hindered me, but both in some way or another has helped create who I am now. If I took my biggest journey, laying every part of my very being on the line, from each point of view, no matter what I find some part of me is going to suffer. But _all _of my sides were suffering now. 

What do I do? Stay here and just convince myself I don't need anybody until I get better and stumble in my next burglaries and get caught, or do I go inside of myself, deeper than I've ever been before, and try to find what I want and don't want to happen, and possibly kill myself with the effort to change who I am? But then, there were a lot of impossibilities for me lately, and it was impossible for me to kill myself. . . Wasn't it?

I don't know anymore. I'm shaken head to toe. I can't think without starting an argument, I can't look at anything without reminding myself of either Nor or Vash, I can't even get the courage to look inside myself for an answer for fear of destroying what took me so long to build. But I had to figure this out - just which part of myself was so important to my being, that can't change, and I can't put on the line?

The answer was unwanted, but necessary. _Nothing. _No part of me was so important I can't put it on the line. Nothing was so perfect where it was that it can't change, if it had to. _Nothing._

So I did what I had to. I _painfully _cleared off an area where I could sit down for a long period of time, got out a pen and paper for notes, laid out a blanket to sit on, crossed my legs, and relaxed. I waited, paying equal attention to each sound that graced my ears until it all faded, echoing into nothing. I waited until my senses turned inward, ignoring my own surroundings and telling me nothing was around me at all. I waited until my mind's voices agreed with my choice and quieted down, letting myself feel peace inside and out. I waited still until my mind's eye showed me my own familiar surroundings, my mental home. It looked just like the one I shared with Nor. But I can't just barge in; that would ruin this trip. I had to wait for the doors to open for me, and invite me in. I knew what was going to happen. This time I didn't know what I was looking for, and that meant I was going to get a guide. The only thing that caused me some worry was how long it would take to be admitted into my home. It could take a few more seconds, a few hours, or even days. Lucky for me I practiced patience to the full effect. My sense focused entirely on that one door, and I saw the suns and moons rise and fall two times - an accurate representation of the actual time that was passing. And now, I had to concentrate. Lights turned on and off periodically inside my windows, which meant I wouldn't have to wait much longer.

And I was right. As I stood, watching, waiting, the door handle turned. It was night, the sky showing each and every star that was visible from Firebreeze, and a light wind played with my hair, now down and reaching the curve of my back, which really was on level with my hips. My hair had short waves, but dozens of them. One single strand of my hair blew down, in front of my right eye, and swayed as the wind blew. The door opened, slowly, and through the darkness inside of the house I could make out a tall person with white hair. I knew then who it was, my guide. After all, I had always considered Nor as my guide; why wouldn't he be here now? And who else would I be expecting? Vash? Meryl? My father? No, none of them would fit right. Nor stepped forward, into the light of my planet's seven moon's light, and he smiled. He gestured that I enter the home, and I couldn't help my smile as walked forward. Technically this was not Nor, but who am I to care? He, like the suns and moons that passed over me, was an accurate representation. If I were here for any other reason except seeing if I had to change my entire life, I would've just hugged Nor and forgot about whatever I was here for, and just stayed. Who knows, I might've ended up in a coma, instead of finding whatever it was I came here for.

But for now, I couldn't. I had to focus; time with Nor could wait until the universe gave back what they stole from me and I die. _Then_, and only then, would I allow myself to relax in the arms of my beloved. For now, I'll do what I have to. And later, after I'm done, I'll forget about responsibility and life and just go with Nor. 

__

But for now. . .

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And get this. The last chapter was very nearly 6,000 words. Yeah, really. Something like 5,968 or something like that. Right around there. But I think I should've left that chapter for the very last one, or maybe the beginning. No, the beginning would've given away the entire plot. Oh, . foo. Maybe I ought to save it for the last chapter. Add some things on the end, and make it a letter to a paper or something. Like she wrote it, knowing she would die. Or something like that. Any ideas, peoples? Lemme know, kay?

More thanks to:

****

Shinigami

Emma Emmerich

Jeril Dragonsoul

See ya!


	4. Self Journey

Disclaimer: Isn't this always first? One way or another I'm going to have to find a way to permanently stick the 'disclaimer' to the beginning of each chapter I write . . . Damn things . . . *Sigh* I do not own Trigun. THERE!! I said it!! *Psychologists around the world cheer at the accomplishment*

But anyway. This is my third _written _Trigun fic. I dunno which is going up first. Eh, I might've already uploaded one; who knows. 

In a nutshell this is what might happen if a woman who had Vash's speed used it all for stealing and decided to steal from _him_, while he's _asleep _nonetheless.

And this here is . . . 

Chapter Four: Self Journey

I don't know why I smiled throughout my internal battle, but for some reason, I couldn't help it. Perhaps it was because Nor was there, and while alive, he always promised the best and that everything would be okay. In order to find myself, he said, I would have to go through a series of tests that could mentally destroy me or make me that much stronger, and with that much more insight in myself. He led me through five tests, each one more challenging and dangerous than the last, and each had that much more emotional trauma. As much as it pained me to finish, I could not help but be proud of my own strength. But, I almost didn't make it. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The first test _looked _simple enough. I had to walk over a thin sheet of ice. In order to get there, we took stairs down nearly fifteen stories, which is very tiring, by the way. We entered something like an ice cave, through huge double doors. And before us - or rather, me, since Nor had appeared on the other side after I opened the door - was a field of ice that filled the entire area, and beyond that, a cave that curved out of sight. The field was about twenty feet long and that much wide, and looked snowed over. But I knew better. It was ice, and thin, and if I fell, I would die.

I stepped onto the ice as slowly as possible, making sure to test its durability first. Nor spoke to me as I walked, trudging up memories to through me off balance. 

"Aluna, remember something," he said. "When your father died, your mother spoke to you. She blamed you, and yelled. Do you remember? Do you remember what she said?"

I was already shaking, remembering what she had said. I didn't want to remember, but this was a test, and I couldn't very well get out of it. 

"She told you that you were a mistake, and if you never came to be, she'd still have her husband. She'd have her husband, and her happiness. She told you that you were the very thing that made her life a living Hell."

"That's not true!" I snapped, and when I did so, my weight shifted and I fell through the surface of the water. I felt cold, sharp stabs like knives all over me, hurting me but at the same time leaving me unscathed. I tried frantically to break through the newly formed ice, but it had gotten thicker. Nor I saw was standing over me now, kneeling and looking through the surface, but doing nothing. All he did was yell at me to remember what he said, and then. . . He didn't tell me what to do after that. My hair came loose from my bun, dropping in small waves all around me and twirling as I scrambled to break through the shield above me. But nonetheless, the memory came up, pounding behind my eyes and demanding that I see it again. And hear it.

__

"You little bitch!" Mayfield screamed, thrusting her hands around angrily and resisting her urge to through the screaming baby in her crib out the window. "This is all your fault!" she said for the umpteenth time that day. She was breaking down now; her tears were renewing themselves on her cheeks. "Your fault!" she cried, crumbling to the floor. "If it wasn't for you. . . He'd still be here. . . My love, I just want to follow you. . . What do I do?" She curled up in a ball, sobbing, and Aluna just cried in her crib. She hadn't been fed yet, this outburst was going to hurt her later on in life, and she could feel her mother's pain. "If it wasn't for you _he wouldn't have tried so hard," Mayfield went on, barely whispering, "to make this place better for his children. . . And he wouldn't have. . ."_

"**_NOOO!!!!!_**" I screamed, underwater and just letting out bubbles and muffled screams. My heart rate was up, my lungs were going to burst if I didn't get air soon, and I was half crying, me strength leaving me. I found myself no longer struggling under the ice, in the freezing water, but just relaxing, as though welcoming death and preparing to take the breath of water that would kill me. But, when I opened my eyes, I was floating, above the ice, and could heart each separate beat of my heart. In one confused blink I was back under the ice, but the ice wasn't there anymore. At least, not totally. There was a thick bridge straight down the middle and Nor thrust his hand under the water. For a second I could barely understand how this happened, and then I saw him smile, and grasped his hand with my own. He pulled me out and onto the bridge in one strong jerk, and I coughed up water and gasped as I lay there. 

Nor was no longer above me, but at the entrance to the cave. "That was just the first test, Aluna. We have four more. Come," he said, lifting an arm as a gesture. I knew he wouldn't actually take me to the next test with me under his arm, but it was a nice gesture anyway. I stood up and wobbly managed to walk over to him, and follow him around the curve. I was somewhat surprised I wasn't dried off when I made it there, but I _was _surprised at how different the scenery was. 

The ice cave ended abruptly, only just barely fading into the brown rock that was beneath it, and couldn't help but drop my jaw at my _next _test. Before me was another area life the ice of the previous test, twenty by twenty, only there looked to be no bottom to it. There wasn't even any edges to go around the gap on. I looked over to Nor, and again found he wasn't there. 

"This one shouldn't be too much harder for you," his voice echoed from the other side of the hole. Beyond him was another curved cave, this one sloping down. I couldn't help but wonder what the _next _place I enter might look like. "All you have to do is walk across the pegs," he finished, and I looked at the hole more intently, seeing that indeed there were pegs taking up the space inside the hole. Each one was at least two feet away from the next, and there was no pattern to how they were placed. They were just. . .all over. I had to go across _those_?

"Gods, why am I doing this," I muttered, looking over each pole separately and mentally choosing the best course. I took a deep breath, steeled my determination, and leapt onto the first peg. I nearly fell off, and let out a frightened shriek because of it, but somehow or another got my balance back. I looked up at Nor, standing on one foot, and spoke while I adjusted to this new type of balance. "Any other memories to get over while I'm doing this?"

"That time when Mayfield lost it, and beat you down," he said, and my eyes widened as I realized what he was saying. I was just four at the time, and wished I could forget, but that wasn't the type of thing you could just block out. 

"No, no, Gods, no. . ." I whispered, protesting strongly to the memory that wanted to be shown.

__

"Aluna!! Aluna!!" Mayfield shouted, gripping a leather strap and wandering around the house. She just lost her job, she missed her husband, her daughter kept getting in trouble, and she was on her worst period ever. Now was not _the best day to get on her bad side. _

Aluna popped her head around a door, about to say something, and then shrunk back and dashed under her bed. Her mom was in one of those moods again, and that made it the worst time to be herself. She hoped and prayed and crossed her fingers that mom wouldn't find her, but in vain.

"There you are, you little rat!" she snapped, throwing back Aluna's bed and dragging her out by her foot. Aluna screamed and clawed to get away, her cries accelerating in both volume and consistency as Mayfield whipped her back and rear with the leather strap. "Thought you could get away from me, didn't you?!" she screamed madly, her hits becoming more and more intense with each stroke. 

"Don't make me remember!" I shouted, clamping my hands on my ears. Now, my mother wasn't like that, and never had been, but when everything bad just piled up, she was bound to snap. It was mainly just bad timing, on both of their parts. Mayfield had apologized for it about a million times after that, but I was already scarred, and Nor looked ready to kill after he found out about it. "She didn't mean it!" I shouted again, kneeling down most uncomfortably on the thin pole and desperately trying to keep my sight from blurring. 

"You _have _to remember, Aluna," Nor sad, but not in the gently voice I was used to when something like that memory came up. "And don't fall," he added, when I began to sway.

"You!" I said, standing up again as best I could with just one foot. Without even being aware of moving I ran across the pegs and pounced on my guide, hands fisting his shirt and I started to scream at him. "You did this! I came here to find out what I should do with the rest of my life, and _you. . . ._All you're doing is bringing up memories I don't want to remember!!" 

"And you've passed the second test," he said, not the least fazed. I blinked just once, and then I was clamping nothing in my fists and no longer sitting on his stomach. Instead, I was forcing back more tears and trying to focus on the blur of Nor in front of me, standing right by the next cave tunnel and waiting for me to gather myself. "Shall we go? The third one shouldn't be quite so hard to handle."

"That's what you said about _this _one," I shot back, but got up anyway. It took a minute for me to clear my sight, but when I did, I followed him without a glance back.

What we stood before now was yet another area, the same size as the last, and I guessed, as large as the last two I was going to face. These tests are proving harder than I thought they would be, I thought as I gazed at the next test.

It was what looked to be sand, nothing new, but I knew very well it was hiding more than one would think. One lone flower from Firebreeze stood in the very middle, but horribly overgrown. It was basically a rose, but dark blue and having no thorns. The bud was closed, but some part of me told me that whatever was inside it or around it wasn't going to be easy to face. I wasn't the least bit fazed when I caught Nor standing behind it; I was used to it by now. 

"What memory will _this _trudge up?" I asked, and got no answer from Nor. He didn't even move. Which meant that what I was facing wouldn't be easy to beat, and was a complete surprise. I had a strong feeling I wasn't going to make it out of here without being really badly hurt. Staring directly at the flower, one called Oraphel on Firebreeze, I went right up to it, getting this odd memory of my mother always having a vase of them in the house.

Just as I reached it and was about to touch it, the flower bud opened, spreading ten feet across and showing a face in the very center. I gasped and took shaky steps back, seeing my own mother's face in that flower. And worst of all, she spoke to me.

"Aluna, you left me," she accused, in a very sad voice. I tried to say something and shake my head, but she was going on. "You didn't wait for me. You left me, left me to _die_," she said, and my words caught in my throat.

"N-no, Mom. . . I _tried _to - I couldn't - "

"_You left me_," she said again, in the worst type of hurt voice I'd ever heard. I knew I was crying; I could feel it. I knew the ground below me was shaking somehow, but couldn't concentrate on it. "You left me to die on that planet, you didn't wait. I was coming for you, Aluna. I was going to join you and Nor, but you _didn't wait_," she hissed, still in that hurt voice. I was still shaking my head, and then, I saw the roots of the flower come up above the ground around me.

"**Mommy!!**" I screamed, and the roots came around me tightly and squeezed. I don't care if this was real or not; it _felt _real. _Too _real. I screamed again as the roots tightened, and my mother continued on about how much I hurt her and how I left her to die and even _wanted _her to die and so on. I could feel pops in my back, and crunches and cracks and so on. All over my fully-covered body, minus my head and neck, and I was crying louder and harder now. This was just so _painful_; I couldn't take it. I was on the edge of praying to the Gods and stars and moons and anything else that would listen to take my life now and relieve me from this pain. Not just emotional; not just physical; but both. Together, that stung beyond belief. 

"Are you going to just give up?" Nor's voice said above my own screaming and my mother's voice. "That's not like you. Why don't you try to explain all this? You're going to need it."

"Stop it! **Stop stop stop stop stop stop stop _iiiiit!!!!!_**" I screamed, and somehow or another broke the roots around me. I fell to the ground, panting, on hands and knees, and coughed up bits of blood. I looked up sharply to see my mother's face crying as well, her roots going under the ground and complaining about how much that hurt. I stood up, shaking, and tried to keep my legs sturdy enough to not fall back down or crumple. "Mom, that's not how it went," I said, getting back my well-taught controlled voice. "We waited as long as we possibly could. I was hoping you'd come back out, appear through the flames to be with us, but if we had stayed a second longer, we would have died, too. I know you wouldn't want that; you'd be happy to die as long as it'd save me, like I would if I had had a child. Mother, please, don't be angry at me. Forgive me."

For about twenty seconds, not a sound came from any direction. Then her face fell, right out of the flower, which shrunk into a bud. The face that hit the ground, though, was nothing more than a mask that shattered upon impact. I struggled to walk over to it, ending up stumbling and on my knees several times. I touched the broken mask, hearing one last comment from the piece of clay.

__

"I forgive you, Aluna. Goodbye."

I smiled, happy that I now had the reassurance of knowing she had forgiven me, like I had her, so long ago. It was hard to get back on my feet, and Nor led the way to the next, and final, test. I gasped upon seeing it. 

"The most scorching memory you have," he stated, sweeping a hand towards the last one, "you might not survive from reliving. However, if you pass, nothing can stop you, mentally or physically. Good luck," and then he was across the last test, waiting.

I swallowed, looking around and wondering if there was maybe some way to get around, but in vain. Have to face this, sooner or later. 

The last test was a huge lake of water, bigger than any of the last fields. It had to be at least fifty feet long, and on top of that - literally - was flames. Fire in every direction, covering most - but not all - of the water, and sweeping back and forth from an invisible hand. I was shaking; I was still aching from the last one, and now I had to wade through water and flames. It frightened me, a lot. I knew the memory he was talking about, and the last thing I wanted was to face it again, but I couldn't very well go back now - I knew this the moment I stepped inside. I knew this was going to come up, and at the time I accepted it, but now, actually _facing _it, I lost all nerve. I couldn't do this again. Not _again_. 

But then, I had no choice, didn't I? I steadied my breath as much as it would allow me to, and, slowly, started to enter the water. At first the flames backed away from me, until I was under to my neck. Which wasn't that far in, really. And then, just as the memory of that night came swarming to me, so did the fire. It covered me, and I went under, both saving and dooming myself in one. The water in my mind held painful thoughts, and so did the dangers above the water. I was stuck.

I tried not to think about that night and swim forward, towards the end, but I had forgotten which way that was. Unless I glanced above the surface, I couldn't know which way I was heading anymore. And that night. . .

__

"Give it up, now, or will shoot you both. Where is it?!" Aluna clutched Nor's arm, not seeing any way out of this.

I threw my head above the surface, needing air, and the flames scorched at my hair. I dove back under again quickly, not wasting the breath to scream in pain.

__

"I'm not telling you anything! You want it so bad, go find it. But I promise you," Nor's voice lowered dangerously, "you aren't going to get out of here alive if you do."

"Nor. . ." Aluna breathed. She could only see the eyes of the person standing on their bed, but that was more than enough. This man had no problem with killing them both, even if it was just for fun. 

"You decided your own fate," the cruel voice said. "Remember that." And then a gunshot sounded next to her, and Nor fell back.

I screamed underwater, desperately trying to run from my own mind that was torturing me with this. I surfaced again and swam as fast as I could to the edge Nor was standing at, flames catching and holding to my body where it was above the surface.

__

"**Nor!!!**" Aluna screamed, watching in slow motion, it seemed, as his body fell back and touched the pillow, and as each drop of his blood fell almost gracefully to odd parts of the bed. But something was different and ordering her to pay attention - the gun wasn't pressed to her head anymore. She stood up quickly, knocking back the man who had fired the bullet that struck her to-be husband.

"**Nor!!!**" I screamed in both my mind and lips as I kept bobbing above and below the surface of the water, emotional stress and physical inability getting the best of me. I took a big gulp of water instead of air as I tried to regain my swimming position, but to no avail. I was falling under and getting more and more weak as the seconds passed.

__

"How dare you?!" she snapped, hitting the man repeatedly as he tried to regain his composure. He managed a slap to her face, making her stumble back a few feet.

"Easy," he growled out, and pointed that gun at her again. She snarled back in return, dodging the bullet without realizing she had.

"Death is too good for you," she hissed out, getting a hold of both his wrists and twisting so he had no choice but to follow the movement - out the window. "But die anyway!!" she yelled as he fell to the ground. She didn't wait to see if he splattered or not; she didn't care about that. She spun on her heel and looked back in her _bed, seeing as how Nor wouldn't be likely to sleep in it anymore. _

She crumpled and cried.

I couldn't move anymore. I was still under, dangerously low, and my lungs were clenching and causing pain to shoot through my limbs and heart. I was less than halfway there, I knew. But I had to keep going, but why? I couldn't remember anymore. 

__

"Nor. . ." she said, her voice shaking. She forced herself up, going over to the bed, and saw Nor like he always slept, face peaceful and a slight smile on his face, eyes closed.

My eyes opened as that brought up a memory, not a painful one, but of another man, who had that same look, not too long ago, either. A man with golden hair and snuggled deeply under thick blankets, looking warm and comfy and completely content. What was his name? I was always bad with names. So who was it?

__

"Nor," she whispered, crawling back in bed. The look on his face had given her a false sense of everything being normal. She curled up next to him, feeling hid body heat still intact. "Good night, lover," she breathed, as though everything was perfectly fine.

She had no idea what would be waiting for her in the morning.

Morning. . . That brought up something. I can remember a bit more now. The morning light coming in from a window, behind a man, who was sitting directly on my hips. My eyes caught and took in his face and eyes, amazing eyes, I had thought. Green, but blue; azure, but sea green. Indefinable. Despite his look of annoyance, I saw his usual expression. Calm, happy, full of even greater joy. _Beautiful. . ._

Aluna woke slowly, stretching out beside her lover, and reached up to touch hi face without looking. Her fingers almost got stuck in sticky, glue-like liquid, thick and smooth. She picked up her head, looking at the man beside her, usually so full of life and energy and good intentions. . .

I got a rush of numbness and strength as my mind took this turn, and swam up again. I threw back my head above the water and gasped, coughing out tiny bits of blood and water mixed. The flames were coming at me again; I had to move quickly. I swam fast again, the fire close behind me and closing in faster than I could swim. They engulfed me just ten feet before the edge of the water and I cried out - pain was just out to get me today, I realized, just like I had that day that. . .

__

"Nor!!" Aluna yelled, shaking him in the hopes he'd wake up again. "Nor!! If this is some kind of joke, Nor. . ." Her voice was shaking, knowing for the truth that he was dead and was going to not play any more jokes on her, but refusing to acknowledge that fact. "Nor, get up!" she tried one last time. But he gave no response.

But Nor was right there, in front of me, at the edge of the water. I could see him, if just barely, through the licks of the flames before me - no, _between us. _A few more feet and I could _touch _him. If only the fire would go away and let me see more clearly. . . But the fire wasn't what was blinding me. It was my own tears, and I knew it. I could taste them as they fell.

__

Aluna cried for hours after she confirmed he was indeed dead, despite her actions in trying to make him come back to life, and be his old life-like self. But this wasn't Nor at all - Nor was happy, always smiling for her, and completely adorable. This was. . . a doll. A little plastic or wax model of the man she loved and was going to marry. But then, where did he go? If this was another one of his jokes. . .

But of course not. Nor would never do something this extreme. That wasn't like him in the least, really. So she sat and cried, for how long she did not know. She never once looked at the clock, but just stared at Nor or kept her eyes closed. How could this happen to her? First her father, and then her planet and mother, and now Nor? What next?

"Life!" I yelled, struggling to get to the shore. I kept going until I felt my feet touch the ground and found myself crawling out, covered in flames. I was collapsing, and I knew it. Just another two feet. . .

__

Goodbye, nor," Aluna whispered, gripping the shovel in her hand so tightly it splintered. He was buried now, where the dead belonged. Where did that leave her? She couldn't be alive, not without Nor by her side. But she wasn't going to end up frozen and stiff in little more than two days. So she wasn't alive, and not dead, either. So what the hell was she?

"What am I?" I repeated to myself, almost touching the edge of the water. But the water swelled up even further, making the shore get further away another five feet. And I couldn't take it anymore. I gave one last deep sigh and fell the rest of the way to the ground. The water receded and Nor began to speak.

"I expected as much. All humans can be weakened to the point of giving up. Don't be worried; think of it as a way to find me again. I honestly thought you had a chance, though. I suppose my faith in you was unjust, however."

__

Aluna slung her bag over her shoulder, leaving behind her very life as she left. She left one note for Bunni, made a marking for Nor's grave so she could find it, gathered her heart and other possessions she would need, along with the money in the hiding spot Nor made, and turned without looking back. When Nor died, so did her life, so she might as well start a new one, just for her, and devoid of any chance of heartbreak. Screw love. She was going to get revenge.

Other scenes over the years flashed by in my mind's eye, showing me little things that meant so much when all put together. My first successful steal; how proud I was at my accomplishment. My extended amount of patience, developed over several years. Waking up with my Blaze heart in my arms after dreams of Nor; how that felt. Seeing my moon reappear after a full night of nothing but bad luck. A lot of really good steals that couldn't have gone any smoother, and then, my mind settled on a face, even as Nor went on.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all this just to die inside your own mind, but you're body's not dead, at least. But unresponsive. I'm not surprised in the least. Human limitations always show at some time or another. Yours has gone as far as it could go."

"You're wrong!" I said, feeling my strength start to come back. I pounded my fist on the ground, and as I did so, the flames on my back went down just a little. "You're wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!!" I said, pounding my fist with each word, the flames now being almost gone. "You're wrong!!" I snapped, getting up and the flames going out completely, and leaving me unscathed in the least. If anything, that fire had done more good than bad, healing my wounds from the other tests and replenishing my energy to the fullest. "And you're not _Nor!!!_" 

I lunged at the man, knocking him back and taking two weapons I rarely used out from the back of my thighs. I didn't even remember putting them on since about five months ago, really. [DL: I don't know what they're called, so bear with me.] There were basically two daggers, but with two more blades extended from the handle to total three round blades on each one. These I had made very well, so that if I wanted, I could hook the handles together and create a double-sided one. I attacked Nor as he tried to fight back, but he had never reached my level in speed or agility. But he had strength, and despite how fast I was, if he got a hit in, I'd be done for, so to speak. 

But he never had the chance. After a good ten minutes at this and both of us nearly losing five or so times apiece, I had him on his back, my right dagger thing against his throat, and sitting on his stomach. "I believe I just passed," I said, sweetly. 

Nor smiled at me and nodded, and I got up, letting him get up as well. He pointed over at yet another cave and told me he had to go, but wouldn't be gone forever. He said I had to go through it myself. I nodded and went inside, finding myself just before the door I entered to get here in the first place. But that wasn't what caught my eye.

There was that man again, what's his name. . . Nash; No. It was. . . "Vash," I said aloud. He smiled at me.

"Hello," he said, lifting his hand. 

"Hello," I laughed back, not even bothering to notice I hadn't laughed for real in over six years, at the very least. 

"I think you were waiting for me," he said, turning and offering his elbow.

"It might be the other way around," I said back, one eyebrow dropped, and slipped my hand on his arm.

"Yeah, just maybe," he smiled. "Shall we?"

"It's a little late for that part," I pointed out. He shrugged. 

"Well let's go!" He stepped forward and the doors swung open by themselves, and the moment I stepped into the sunlight, my eyes opened.

"I did it," I whispered to myself, finally letting myself relax. Now what to do. . . "Go to sleep!" I laughed to myself, laying back on the blanket and seeing that black cat walk by again. Odd, but like that was going to bother me _now_. I finally came to accept everything I couldn't before, and laughed for once, feeling my heart more tender and warm rather than hard and cold. It was a great feeling to have back, but for now, I was going to sleep on it. And then I was going to eat something. And then track down that guy again, and try to figure out what the Hell I was going to say in the meantime.

I sighed and closed my eyes, letting them get heavier and finally surrendering to actual, true rest. "Good night," I muttered as I gave in completely.

After a moment's time, a voice replied, "Good night."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Happy, sad, happy, sad, and so on. Mood swings. Bleh. But anyway.

Thanks to my reviewers. . .

****

Nova

Jeril Dragonsoul

Queen-Of-Demon-dragons

And I will see you next chapter!! So. . .

See ya!


	5. Finding You Again

Disclaimer: Isn't this always first? One way or another I'm going to have to find a way to permanently stick the 'disclaimer' to the beginning of each chapter I write . . . Damn things . . . *Sigh* I do not own Trigun. THERE!! I said it!! *Psychologists around the world cheer at the accomplishment*

But anyway. This is my third _written _Trigun fic. I dunno which is going up first. Eh, I might've already uploaded one; who knows. 

In a nutshell this is what might happen if a woman who had Vash's speed used it all for stealing and decided to steal from _him_, while he's _asleep _nonetheless.

And this here is . . . 

Chapter Five: Finding You Again

It hurt to sit up, but I did it. My back was still in pain, like it should still be after only five days of healing. I had to get a hold of something to eat, and drink, and then I had to pack up and leave. Shouldn't be too hard, right? I stood up in just as much pain as before, but somehow, I felt like I was being helped. _Are you watching over me, Nor? _I thought, and then pinpointed the feeling of a hand on my arm. I laughed a little, knowing who it was before I could look. "You haven't been run out of town yet?" I asked, and got a light chuckle in reply.

"Not yet, but that should happen either today or tomorrow with my luck." I turned still with a smile and met aqua green eyes below spiked blonde hair.

"And you came back, I presume?"

"I couldn't just leave you," he said back, as though it was obvious.

I laughed again, and when I caught his eyes again, my laughter died but smile remained. How had I never seen this before? He not only had the most adorable smile but as well a very handsome face. And with that little freckle beneath his eye. . . He was about as close to perfect as a man could get, in my opinion.

"So _that's _what a smile looks like on you," he said, and flicked my nose, making me wrinkle it in reflex. "Now _that's _cute." 

I almost blushed at his observation, but went on anyway. "This has got to be the most amazing chance encounter I've ever been in, Vash."

"Really? How so?"

"I was just about to go find you."

"Aww, thanks!" He smiled and rubbed the back of his head, and then grabbed both my hands in his and hugged me with the other one. "I just knew you really loved me!" he claimed, tears that I couldn't decipher as fake or real streaming in thick waves down his face. I could barely keep from laughing. "It's so great to be loved, isn't it? Now," he said, turning to completely face me and hold my hands in _both _of his, "we can get married!" He hugged me with both arms as I had a gaping smile stuck to my face in stunned silence. Was this guy for real?! So what if I'd asked that before, or knew he was - this was still unbelievable!

"Um - no. Sorry, but no marriage is going to happen between us," I said, pushing him back gently. He had the saddest look on his face now, but I could tell from years of doing the same that he was faking it. "Even though I just might want it - " I was willing to give him that much hope - "that would be a solid no." 

His face perked up at the first half of the sentence but fell again at the second half. He brushed away two tears that couldn't be fake and smiled, hugging me again.

"What's with you and hugs? Don't you know my back is hurt?"

Vash kind of yelped and jumped back, smiling nervously and giving me something like a peace sign except his fingers were crossed. "Sorry!" he sang out. 

"Uh huh." I raised a brow at him but couldn't help laughing again. It has been a really long time since I last laughed like I meant it, but now I felt addicted. And this guy could really just make you laugh all day long, couldn't he? So funny, and yet he didn't seem to know it.

"So why was it that you were going to look for me?" he asked, letting his arm fall to his side.

"You are the most amazing man I've ever met. Probably the most magnetic, as well. You not only managed to completely destroy my life in one day, but also left me wanting for you to stay as part of life, whatever was left of it." I saw he was confused about what I had said, maybe hurt, but also rather proud of himself and a little bit embarrassed and surprised. "How long have you been watching me?"

"Since the middle of yesterday's yesterday."

"Two days ago?" He nodded. "Just say that next time. So you saw me sitting and doing nothing for about day and a half?" Again he nodded.

"I tried to wake you up but you wouldn't move. What were you doing?"

"Self-meditation. So to speak I went inside myself to see what I should do since my life as a thief died at your own hands. As it turns out it took my three days of waiting to meet the tests."

"There were tests?" I nodded. "What kind?"

"The kind that if you fail you could die. And yes, I know that sounds weird, but if I died within myself my body would cease to work properly. It would eat and sleep, and little more. Myself would no longer exist. I had to go through five tests, each much more dangerous and trying than the last. I very nearly did die during the last." I took a breath and thought about what to say next. "Along with each of the I had a memory that I couldn't cope with return and as I went they became harder to bear. As well I had Nor as my guide, or, a representation of him. He didn't really help much." I shook my head to get off the thought. "The last one I had to go through was a river smothered in flames. Below the water I had to deal with. . . Nor and the tragedy that happened to him. Above I had to avoid the flames, and didn't really make it out alive, so to speak." I sighed. "I'm lucky to have been strong enough to make it all the way through the five tests and back out again. In fact, I should be praising the gods and moons and stars and anything else that will listen for making it out alive. And now I'm stuck with having to rebuild my life for the. . .third time." I paused there, suddenly realizing how depressing that sounded. I shook my head. That came out wrong. I looked directly at his eyes. "Understand?"

"Pretty much. And how is this connected to me?"

I laughed, so completely sure that he was doing this on purpose that I didn't even consider the possibility that he could be telling the truth. After I concluded my humor I glanced at him, seeing his confused gaze and turning to the side. "You're connected to all of this because you remind me of Nor in more ways than I can count. The way you act, the things you say, the effect you cause on me, everything. After Nor died is when I dedicated my life to being cold and completely emotionless and unbreakable. It worked, for the longest time, but I learned two things from Nor. One, I have no defense against him what so ever, and two, there's no way _I _could ever be completely emotionless." I turned back to face him again. "Just as I had no defense against Nor, I find I have none against you. As well, I suppose I could put this as, you woke me up." I paused there to gather my thoughts, and ended up with a very good example. "Ever since Nor was killed, I hid away all my feelings, putting them to sleep, you could say. That's where they've been, until you showed up."

"I think I got it," Vash replied, but still looked a little confused. "I think."

I laughed again; this _grown man _was the funniest thing I've ever encountered. But all thoughts ceased when there was pounding up the stairs to this room, like people were fighting each other to get all the way up. My eyes met his before I pointed to the huge broken was-a-window and spun to gather my few things. I rarely unpack my things, so all I had to do was put my Blaze into my bag. [DL: Think duffel bag that you wear on your back with a strap across your chest - shoulder to hip. Got it? Good.] Vash was halfway out the window and looking down. 

"You want to live forever?" I asked as I ran right past him and leapt out the window. Due to my current physical status I had to roll to keep from hurting myself further once I touched ground. Three story falls were nothing for me - not anymore. I stood up as two booted feet landed right after me and Vash smiled at me.

"You want to die young?" he shot back and we both started running. Rounding one corner we found ourselves right next to the Insurance Girls - who were running from their own pod of angry townspeople. 

"Hey girls," I smiled, and the taller girl - Milly, was it? - smiled right back.

Meryl, though, was not pleased. "You!" she snapped at me. "This is entirely your fault!!" She stopped and started to pull out handcuffs again. I rolled my eyes and grabbed her arm, yanking her to keep up with us. 

"You want to end up in _that?" _I asked, jerking my head in the direction of the lynch mob that was running after us.

She was about to scream - and then she looked behind us and started to run faster. Much better. Hurt back or no hurt back, I was going to our-run these people chasing us, probably for the infamous Vash the Stampede, but not overlooking the working-her-way-up Thief Beauty, as I was nicknamed. Something to do with my tight starting out ensemble. Deep, deep black and curve-hugging, just one big spandex-like piece of cloth I sewed myself which included a mask. These people were smarter than I thought, however; even though I changed outfits and became better very quickly, they recognized my style. 

As we reached the edge of town I caught the sight of a certain sheriff that had a sole purpose of catching me. He knew my face, my technique, and my targets. "Oh, no," I said, stopping and starting to turn around. This guy was so set on catching me and bringing me in that he had in fact studied me and knew my exact fighting style, move for move. 

"What are you doing?" Vash snapped, stopping and trying to pull me towards the exit of town.

"Taking my chances with the mob!" I said back, trying my best to make his hand let go. But as far as I knew, that was mechanical as well and useless to struggle against. I counted seven bullets hit the ground right near me and changed my mind again, thinking it safer to be taken in than killed. "Screw the mob! I'll take my chances in jail!" I said mainly to myself. 

"In jail?" Vash said, finally having let go and slightly panting next to me. 

"Him," I said back, gesturing at the sheriff in a black trench coat with his head down. "He's been chasing me for nine years now," I panted out.

"That's great and all but in a few more minutes we're going to be dead!" Meryl shouted, obviously ticked that I had so unceremoniously joined their little group. The last to join - right at the edge of town and sitting on a motorcycle near a jeep was what I took as a Priest, black clothing and hair with a giant cross on the back of the two-wheeler. 

He tossed a set of keys into the air and started revving, just as Meryl and Milly hopped into the jeep. Vash caught the keys and ushered me to join the pod of women in the back and started the vehicle.

"Where do you think you're going?!" the sheriff screamed at me. 

"Anywhere but here!!! Unless you want to be lynched I suggest you leave as well!!" I said, pointing at the mob that was about to reach him. He had taken a few fast steps towards me, but now he was staring bug-eyed at the townsfolk, and his cigarette fell from his lips. _Silly little sandy-haired man_, I thought, _never learns to pay attention to anybody else. _

"Wait for me!!" he screamed, heading for the still vacant passenger seat. I was about to scream "No!!" when Vash waved him over a yelled a "Be quick!"

Now _my_ eyes bulged out; this man has been chasing me, wanting to get me under arrest for nine years and here Vash was letting him hitch a ride with us. "What do you think you're doing?!" I yelled at the blonde man in the driver's seat. We took off quickly, almost giving all five of us whiplash, and the sheriff sighed. 

He turned to Vash. "Sheriff Martin Green. Thanks for helping me out."

"How did you get here without a Thomas?" Vash asked, seemingly dumbfounded. 

"I didn't. My Thomas ran off a few minutes back. I guess I now know why. What's you're name, sir?"

"Vash the Stampede. Nice to meet you," he added, holding out a hand. 

Martin's eyes grew wide for the second time and, if he had had a cigarette in his mouth, I could tell it would have fallen out by now. "V-Vash the. . . Stampede?" he repeated.

"Why does everyone have such a hard time with that?" Vash wondered aloud to himself. 

I smirked and leaned forward, poking Martin's shoulder. Shakily he turned to face the owner of the finger that nudged him, and was instantly out of his stupor. "Howdy, cowboy," I said, my usual greeting to him. "What in the world are you doing way out here in jeep with two outlaws?"

"Chasing one of the them!" he snapped, and reached back to grab me. Even if he knew all my moves, and in a real fight could easily be my match, he still forgot that in situations like these he had no hand on me, let alone an upper one. I leaned back and kicked his jaw, and a second later he was unconscious.

The guy on the motorcycle was to the right of us now, and looking at the three women including me in the back seat. He laughed and spoke clearly to Vash. "Why do all the outlaws get all the girls?" he yelled. 

Meryl turned dark, Milly looked a little confused by what he meant, and I somewhat eagerly leaned forward to rest my elbow on the armrest and my chin on my hand. 

"What girls?" Vash laughed back. "All I see are three lovely ladies!" 

I shook my head. "Sorry, but I'm no lady. I'm a full blown woman," I added, leaning back again. "Who's the other guy?" I asked.

"I am Nicholas D. Wolfwood," the priest introduced himself. "A traveling Priest from - "

"Does it really matter?" I interrupted. "We're all travelers here."

"And who do I have the pleasure of speaking with now?" he asked. Had he not been wearing sunglasses I would have thought him charming. I nudged Milly traded places with her, leaning a hand over the space between myself and this Nicholas.

"Aluna Hart, professional thief and master of the Martial Arts," I introduced myself, and with a laugh, Nicholas shook my hand. "It's absolutely smashing to meet you," I said, using an old British accent. It was the one I used when saying "I'll use big words for you, cause I can tell you can use them too," as opposed to the Southern accent I used for just mocking. Like my "Howdy, cowboy," for Martin.

"And who's this man?" Nicholas asked, gesturing at the man in the front seat.

"Sheriff of Barkston, Martin Green. My own hometown. The one and only Sheriff dedicated to catching me and taking me back to be thrown in my hometown's jail. You know Vash, I suppose?"

"A little too well at times," he admitted. We were still talking loudly, even though we left the last town a while ago and we had slowed down considerably. 

I laughed and sat back, feeling a bit of spit gathered in my mouth. If anyone ever needed more proof that I was no lady, one would just have to watch me. I tilted my head back, took a nice deep breath, and launched the saliva into the air. I spun to watch it fly back once the wind caught it and smack the ground several feet behind us. If I had not been taught by Nor to use simple mathematics in everyday life, or had that ability in my blood from Firebreeze, I would not have been able to judge how fast we were going. Yes, just by my spit.

I knew how it worked. [DL: I have the idea, but not the formula, so no numbers will be used. It should work.] How high the spit flew, how long it took it to land, and how far away the spit landed from where I had spit. We were going about fifty now. 

"You spit?!" Nicholas yelled, staring at me with his glasses halfway down his nose. 

"I said I was no lady," I said back. "Keep your eyes on the road!" I advised, pointing ahead of us. 

"Whoa!" Nick said, swerving enough to the right to miss a tall hunk of rock that was just. . .there. 

I smirked and quirked my brow, even as he continued to give me a weird look. I leaned forward and let myself lean against my arm on Vash's seat. "How far to the next place?"

He glanced at the fuel meter thingy. [DL: What's it called?] "Farther than we have fuel for. Hey Wolfwood," he called out, looking over at the man. "Forget to fill the tank or just stole the jeep?"

"Kind of both," he admitted.

"You call him Wolfwood?" I asked, and Vash nodded. I sighed. "So what are we going to do?"

"Drive until night falls, take some rest, and get as far as we can on whatever is left. Then walk."

"What about that motorcycle?"

That got him thinking. He looked at Wolfwood again. "How much fuel is in that thing?"

"Enough!" 

"Good!" Vash lowered his voice to talk to me. "I guess he'll go ahead while we wait. Come back with more fuel." He shrugged.

"Mm-hmm." I sat back again and looked at M&M. I smiled; that was a cute joke. Calling them M&M. 

They seemed to be in a deep discussion. I caught the words "Aluna," "Vash," and "Sheriff Martin" a few times pretty soon on. Meryl looked like she wanted to abandon me and Martin and "let justice be served" while Milly was apposing that thought. Something about being nice for once and that I couldn't be that bad, if I would care enough to give Meryl a push to keep running when she stopped. 

I frowned and looked at the man who had been following me around for nine straight years, always so close but never close enough. _She must still be angry about me handcuffing her to her friend. I can't blame her. I am pretty damn cold most of the time. Why am I still traveling with these guys? I could have so easily hopped out and left Martin to cringe in fear of Vash and get a really big head start. Actually, that's not a bad idea. _In fact it was, and four days ago, I would have done it, too. I would have leapt out of the jeep and started trekking by myself, in no particular direction, living with whatever I had inside my bag. Thinking of it. . .

I reached around me to unzip the pocket I made especially for my heart, hidden rather well, and took it out. It has been several years now since I looked at it when the suns touched it with light and made all the colors stand out brilliantly, and now seemed to be the perfect time. 

I smiled and took off the bag, putting it on the floor under my feet, and just rolled the heart around in my hands, letting the light bounce off of it and create shimmering colors that dazzled all who saw it. I myself was so intrigued by the glimmers that I did not know I had two more admirers staring at the beautiful spectrums of colors and lights until Milly spoke up.

"That's beautiful; what is it?" she asked, startling me so I almost dropped it.

"It's called Blaze, from my planet Firebreeze. It's the last that's left in the universe - that I know of, I mean."

"It's so gorgeous! Don't you think so, Meryl?" she added, turning around with big crescent eyes and the most innocent smile I think I'd ever seen.

"It is a beautiful piece of jewelry, but who'd you steal it from?" Before I could do more than open my mouth she went on. "I know your story, _Aluna, _so who'd you take it from?"

"If you'd shut up for a second I'd answer you!" I snapped. "I didn't steal this from anybody! It was a gift from my late lover," I added, a little more softly. 

"Oh, that's so sad!" Milly said, and hugged me, while Meryl looked on kind of stunned. "I'm so sorry Meryl had to say something that could very well bring up painful memories! Did you love him? Who was he? How did he die?"

I couldn't respond. I was stuck in a hug, clutching my piece of Nor, while this tall woman bombarded me with questions about Nor, right _after _telling me she was sorry if _her friend _had brought up painful memories. The memories that came up were taken directly from my own words, making them little scenes of Nor and I together while making love or playing silly little games afterwards. 

__

"Which do you prefer," Nor asked, crawling over the sheets to touch Aluna's nose, "a kiss on your thigh or you cute tummy?" Aluna laughed. "Tough choice."

"Hey, what's up?" Aluna asked, giggling like a school girl as Nor got in bed. "Me, for starters," Nor replied in sexy voice. He leaned up close and nipped her ear. "Can we do something about that?"

"Why do men have such a fascination with women's breasts?" Aluna asked. Nor shrugged. "I don't know. I'll have to take a look," he added teasingly and lifted up the sheet that covered her chest. She laughed as he looked completed absorbed in the "research." "I don't really know. Maybe I have to touch them to find out." Aluna laughed harder.

The sunlight poured through the window, illuminating the couple tangled in the sheets. Aluna was awake, but didn't move or make a sound. She loved mornings like this, when she could just watch Nor's face as he slept. 

"Aluna? Are you okay?" Milly said, her light voice just nudging my eardrums. 

"Yeah," I said, but my shaky, hollow, and somewhat scratchy voice betrayed me. I looked down, at my Heart, and sniffed as I saw a color of blue that matched Nor's eyes perfectly. I missed him so much, I saw him in everything. Or, at least, I do when I'm not "working." 

"Are you sure?" Milly asked, rubbing her hand against my back.

In a much more pathetic voice than before, I croaked out a "No" and dropped the heart in my lap and cried into my hands. I blame Vash for this. If I hadn't met him, I wouldn't be craving Nor so much more now than I had when my life was run by the pure instinct to go on without feelings. Now that I had them back, and fully functional, I was starting to get worried I was going to commit suicide to get away from the loneliness and pain.

But, as Milly embraced me and started apologizing quickly, I heard a voice in my head saying, "You're not alone, not anymore. You have people here, with you, and the only reason why you would feel alone now is because you want to. Now either throw away that whole 'soul-searching' bit that took you so much pain and time to go through, or accept the fact that you don't have to be alone unless you choose to be." I smiled. That was either Nor pointing me in the right direction even after all this time, or it was Vash, my newly acquired internal guide. _Have fun duking it out_, I thought, aiming that thought at Nor's voice inside my head. _You have competition._

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Hallelujah I'm done!! And now for the thankies:

****

Sapphire

Wait - after all this time I get _one _new reviewer!! Ah! *Stares at the screen* You're gypping me! *Scoffs and turns around, muttering about ungrateful readers who don't review*

See ya!


	6. When Do We Get Out Of Here?

Disclaimer: Isn't this always first? One way or another I'm going to have to find a way to permanently stick the 'disclaimer' to the beginning of each chapter I write . . . Damn things . . . *Sigh* I do not own Trigun. THERE!! I said it!! *Psychologists around the world cheer at the accomplishment*

But anyway. This is my third _written _Trigun fic. I dunno which is going up first. Eh, I might've already uploaded one; who knows. 

In a nutshell this is what might happen if a woman who had Vash's speed used it all for stealing and decided to steal from _him_, while he's _asleep _nonetheless.

And this here is . . . 

Chapter Six: **When do we get _out _of here?!!**

About time. After hours of driving and me continually knocking out Martin, we finally stop for the night. It is dusk and I have to admit that a sunset with two suns is something to see. Although it is natural for me and everyone else present, it's still something. Most humans never look. Stupid humans; they never know how precious the little things are until they can't do the little things anymore. Honestly, when you get to thinking about it, how many times thus far have you thought about a certain point in your childhood, so vital to who you are now that you can't see yourself as anything without it? Two, three? And how many more times will you think of it? Five, maybe six. How many times have you watched a full moon rise or set? How many more times do you think you'll see it? How often do you write or call home, or catch up with old friends? How little have you even thought of calling home to see who's still alive and who isn't? And how many times have you thought about how different your life could be if you took that chance so long ago, or chose that person to stay with, or say "hi" to that one beggar and give him some money? Your life can change on a dime, or end, or be reborn. And humans don't even realize its possible.

"Hey! Aluna! Aren't you going to unpack?"

And how many times will you just _know _your life is perfect, or will be, when everything is so messed up you can't see a straight road? I smiled as I turned back around, waving back at Vash. He was so much like a child it was unbelievable, but at certain times, he was so wise you couldn't believe it was the same man. "Unpack what?" I replied. "I don't need anything just yet."

"I hope you packed water, then!" he shouted back at me as he retreated further. 

I shook my head with a smile. I could tell, somehow, that this man wasn't human, that he wasn't like any of these faceless creatures that crawl around day after day, just living and yet never living. He was different somehow; that much I knew. Perhaps I'd ask about it later. Until then, I would just act indifferent. Just like the other women that looked at him. Only, a little less like a burden one's life and a little more like a true friend to never overlook.

Wait - what did he mean by _"I hope you packed water"_? Did he and the girls not have any? As the thought struck me harder and harder, I spun back on my heal and stalked right up to the "Insurance girls" as Vash called them. 

"Vash told me he hoped I packed water. What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, that's easy," Milly replied in her usual happy smile and voice. "We all checked, and none of us have any water with us!"

I could feel my eyes go large and my face fall. _Nobody _here had any water? Three women and three men had no water in the middle of nowhere? "Are you kidding me?" 

"Nope! Do you have any by any chance?"

"Not a drop," I whispered, and Meryl's face roughly matched mine. Only she looked a little less like she was going to faint and a little more like she was going to kill something. But then, didn't I have a trick for just this situation? _Not for more than one person, _my old way of thinking snapped at me. _You only know how to survive for yourself, not how to keep others alive. They're utterly screwed - but not you. Leave now and nobody will have the strength to look for you! _

So this was it, huh? Six people in the middle of nowhere without water, and I, the only one who knew how to get water in the middle of nowhere, was trying to convince myself to leave them all and survive alone. Wow. Isn't it just amazing. But. . . If I had the right tools, and found the right spot. . . Maybe I could. . .

My face regained its natural pose a second later, having decided on exactly what to do. If I could get everyone water, they'd trust me. If everyone trusted me, I'd be in the clear. If I was in the clear, anything would be possible. Anything I'd do, they'd believe me on. Anything I'd say, they'd listen to. I'd have them all in the palm of my hand. . .

**__**

No!! I snapped at myself. I couldn't think like that anymore. I am **not **here to steal from them, or leave them for dead. If I was going to die out here without water, I would do so _with _them and not out wandering by myself. But if I was going to get water my usual way, the first thing I'd need would be all the right tools. And one of the tools happened to be daylight. I had to move quickly, and smartly. I couldn't very well find anything if I didn't know what I was doing. 

"Vash," I said, going up to him. He was speaking with Wolfwood, as I had begun to call him. Milly called him Mr. Priest, but other than that, he was called Wolfwood. Not Nicholas, not Nick, not D., just Wolfwood. 

"Hmm? Oh, Aluna," he greeted me. He stood up when I got near. "What can I do for you?"

"Let me see your gun for a minute," I replied quickly. 

He blinked and looked confused. "Why would you want my gun?"

"Don't worry, I'm not planning a massacre. I hardly know how to use those things. Just let me see it." When he looked unwilling to let me have my way, I added, "It's a surprise, okay?" 

That got him. He broke into a grin and almost too happily handed it over. "Just don't break it, alright?"

I rolled my eyes and turned, faking dropping it halfway into the turn just because. Who said thieves can't have their fun? I walked briskly, feeling the ground with my feet. I sat down for a second and took off my boots, now having the total attention of everyone present. Although I could feel the burning, measuring gaze of Martin on the back of my head. I had to close my eyes to focus entirely on the vibrations beneath my feet. Don't ask me why the daylight helped my senses so much, despite how good I was during the night. 

My night senses were developed and taught; my daylight senses were natural and very strongly evolved. Well, above the other humans wandering about. Must be something developed while living on Firebreeze. I wasn't consciously aware of which direction I was moving or how long it took, but when I stopped I knew I had found the perfect place. You see, this planet, though it had no lakes or rivers, had fountains of water beneath the surface. At certain points it was deep, at others just beneath the surface. And there was _always _shallow water nearby, no matter where you were. The problem was finding it, considering they usually aren't very big, so it was hard to feel. This was another thing that I had naturally since I was born. When I first came here, I couldn't understand why I felt the things or what they were and why nobody else ever knew what I was talking about. I suppose it was a survival instinct that just came a little strongly on me, but now that I knew how to use it, I could use it whenever I needed it. 

The vibrations were light and close together, so one who could feel them usually took them for echoes of their steps or caves beneath the surface housing bats or something, but I knew better. I pointed the gun down, aiming between my feet, where the water would spring up when I shot, and pulled the trigger just once. I stepped back instantly as the water shot straight up, and tossed the gun back to Vash as I delved through my small pack for what I was looking for. 

When I came back just about everyone was guzzling the water, and I opened a small bag-like container to catch the water that sprouted in the air about ten feet. Martin was still looking at me like I had something up my sleeve, but I just smiled at him and suggested that anyone with a water bag should fill it while they had the chance. Four bodies scrambled to get their things and fought over which spot to stand to catch the most water, but Martin and I were still holding eyes and standing perfectly still. Once my bag filled up I closed it off and backed up, letting Milly run into my spot and the fighting and scrambling ceased. 

Everybody was shocked that I could do that, but not at all surprised that my skill was so developed. Vash kept asking me questions about how I could find water so easily and so on; Meryl kept pointing out that one way or another I was going to have to be taken in for all the things I stole; Milly was pleased and my new best friend for finding it in the first place; Wolfwood just asked me polite questions and smiled; Martin never moved and kept his eyes narrowed at me. But soon enough it was full-on night, and everyone got comfy for sleep. Using oddball pieces of wood we found and Wolfwood's lighter we made a fire, and I took out and watered my plant before going to sleep. It was now four days since I last watered it, and it looked like it was growing very nicely. Tomorrow I'd have to keep it in the sunlight, and after another four days I'd water it again; that was the plan for the next four days. Nice, yes?

We all had a different way of sleeping around the campfire, and Martin was purposely staying up to make sure I didn't leave. Vash was sitting against a pretty big rock, Wolfwood was on the other side, Milly and Meryl had a small roll-out mat they laid on, each with a blanket of course, and I was flat out on my back, arms behind my head, staring up at the stars that once included my home planet. As much as I loved gazing at the stars and trying to pinpoint the two suns that were the source or light and life on my planet, I had not yet found them nor had I yet fallen asleep without feeling a deep sense of regret. I often wished to join those who had died on my planet, to save myself from all the heartache of living that followed the planet's demise. Even though my time with Nor was the best I had ever had, it was better for me to die at six, ignorant of the pleasures and pains that aggravated me later on in life. 

After a good hour of just staring, I realized that for the past three days I'd been in a half-sleep. Which meant that I wouldn't be able to get to sleep for another day or so. Sighing, I stood up, going over to another rock. It was roughly the same size as the one Vash and Wolfwood were using for a pillow, but more like a pole to stand and sit on. It was up to my waist and about the same - if not just a little more - size wide. I glanced back at the group before deciding that Martin had indeed dozed off, and everyone else looked asleep. My pack was right here, against the rock and standing up. I dove into it and pulled out my CD player and checked which CD was in it. A mix CD I made myself. 

I put it on as I climbed up the rock, going straight for song seven of the nineteen on it. Limp Bizkit's "My Way" song came up, a song I really loved. I knew very little about the group, something about living on Earth long before it died. However that happened. Hell, all I knew about this planet was that the humans here crashed when their ships glitched. 

Setting the earphones correctly I was greeted with the song and I smiled slightly. This was such a good song. I glanced up at the stars one more time and then relaxed my entire body. _Good thing you heal fast, _I thought to myself. _Otherwise you wouldn't be up in the first place. _I raised my fists to my sides, planting the martial arts pose I was used to on the rock. And then I began practicing.

I never train. I never have, and never will. I just practice - to keep myself in the right timing and so on. I have to know this stuff to survive on this planet - or I used to. God only knows what I was going to do to survive now. I was so into the song by now and my own focus that I didn't notice my audience.

~*~ Third POV so you can see what's going on ~*~

Vash woke up when he felt something different about the other five people who he thought were asleep. When he looked at them all he noticed that Aluna wasn't among them anymore. At least not on her makeshift bed. In fact, she was striking fighting moves while standing on a rock just about the same size as his own, and listening to a Discman or Walkman. After a moment he stood up and leaned against his rock, seeing her with her eyes closed and moving in circles with her attacks and blocks. Actually, it looked like she was barely using any attacks, but mostly blocks. 

She didn't notice him, so he kept quiet. People always acted much more like themselves when they thought they were alone, so he let her believe it. She didn't seem like she was feeling anything, by the way her face was set and yet relaxed, and he couldn't help but smile. With the way she was moving, her back must be feeling a lot better now. He had his doubts that he could get better that fast, but the, even he kept surprising himself. But Aluna was surprising him even more.

He titled his head, watching her do a jump kick and land her foot right back where it was, only facing the opposite direction. What was she listening to? Whatever it was, it was absorbing her. Or so it looked to him. He glanced around, wondering why Martin hadn't gotten up and done something about her yet, and saw that the Sheriff was dead asleep. 

"She's still up?" a voice said from behind him.

Vash wasn't that surprised that Wolfwood was up now, too. "Apparently - unless this is a new type of sleep-walking," he replied with a laugh.

"Look at her go," Wolfwood observed, seeing her movements increase in speed and coordination. 

"I am."

Wolfwood looked sharply at the man. "I didn't mean ogle," he snapped.

Vash lifted a finger to his lips. "Shh. You're going to alert her."

Wolfwood rolled his eyes and climbed on top of the rock to sit on it. He pulled a crumpled cigarette from his pocket and lit it, looking back from Aluna to Vash and back again. "You like her, don't you?" he asked.

"Mm-hmm. She's really caring about the little things."

"Like what?"

"She has a plant."

"A plant?" Wolfwood replied blankly.

"Yes. She said she found a seed out here somewhere, and over the last few weeks, she's been keeping it watered and helping it grow. But we don't know what kind of plant it'll be."

"And that makes you like her?" Wolfwood challenged the supposedly invincible man.

"Well," Vash began, and smiled, "not just that," he finished, zooming in on the way her body moved and flowed as she dodged invisible men and hit them back, all with her eyes still closed.

Just now she paused and stood up straight, her back to them. She brought her right fist into her left hand and drew them to her chest, bowing her head, and then back out again, letting them drop to her sides. And then she clicked the song "#1 Crush" by Garbage to pause and spun, glaring at the men who were supposed to be asleep. 

Vash immediately slid down the rock and pretended to be asleep, while Wolfwood scrambled to get back to his side and hide. Aluna glared more fiercely and stalked over to them, pulling the earphones out of her ears. She paused in front of Vash and crossed her arms, waiting until he looked back up at her. 

~*~ Aluna's POV again ~*~

Halfway through the third song I smelled the distinct scent of smoke - cigarette smoke. Which meant I had admirers. I stopped my practicing for the time being and did the usual end prayer type thing these humans were so big on before pausing one of the few songs I really loved and spun to face them.

I was expecting Woldwood, as he was the only one here who smoked minus Martin - who would have stopped me and tried to cuff me instead of lighting a cigarette - but I was not expecting to see Vash ogling at me. As soon as they figured out I knew they were watching they both moved, Vash sitting back down and Wolfwood going back over to his side of the rock. 

I stepped up to Vash first, him being the closest, and crossed my arms. Sooner or later he'd have to look up at me, and I could wait all night. It was a rather long time before he did look up, and it was obvious he immediately regretted that decision. 

"Hello," I said, venom dripping from my voice. 

Vash gulped and gave me a weak smile. "Hi."

"How long were you watching me?"

"Um. . . Two or three minutes."

"Are you lying?" I asked, not really paying attention to whether or not I was starting to sound like a mother.

"No?" he said, the word sounding like a question. So he was looking for the right answer, then. Fine. I could do that.

"Are you afraid to answer me truthfully?"

"A little," he admitted, still looking a little frightened. 

Part of mind pointed out that must me scaring the shit out of him, but another part pointed out that this was the infamous Vash the Stampede, and he couldn't get scared of one woman by herself. But then, who really knew anything about this man?

After another minute or so I decided against scaring him further and sighed, taking a seat next to him. "Why would you be afraid of the truth?"

"I. . . It's not the truth. It's the reaction you might give me."

"Like what?"

"Like _pain_," he said, in a very scared voice of the second word. I laughed at his tone.

"Relax," I said, and reached a hand over to ruffle his hair. It always worked with me and Nor to get us calmed down, so I figured it would work on Vash, too. "I've already gotten over that. After all, I don't know why you were watching me in the first place, and if you tell me, I just might give you the 'pain' that you're so scared of, so I suggest you keep your mouth shut."

A small laugh - muffled - came from the other side of the rock. I got up and dusted off my rear before speaking to the other man who was staring at me. "You shut up. I just might give you pain for the hell of it." I flicked Vash's head before I went back to my rock and sat on it, playing the music again from where it left off and diving into my own thoughts again.

This place seemed to be getting to me. Normally, I would have beaten both men within an inch of their lives, and then forgive and forget. But this time. . . I barely even acknowledged that I didn't like being stared at without my knowing. Not that I like it _with _my knowing, but the point still remains. 

Now if I could just get to sleep. . . But no. That wouldn't happen for quite a while. All I could do was stay up and listen to my music until the batteries went out. I sighed, drawing my legs up to my chest and leaning against them, and looked straight ahead. As much as I liked this song, it never failed to make me sad on certain points. "I would die for you, I would kill for you, I would burn for you, feel pain for you," were just some of the words to this song. Most of it was like this. "I would" for you. That entire song summed up my feelings for Nor, now seeming stronger than ever now that he wasn't with me anymore.

Wanting to hear the entire song without interruption, I played it back from the very beginning. _Yes, _I thought, closing my eyes as the song began. _Sing for me, girls. Tell me how I feel._

"I would die for you, I would die for you,

I've been dying just to feel you by my side,

To know that you're mine.

I will cry for you, I will cry for you,

I will wash away your pain with all my tears,

And drown your fears.

I will pray for you, I will pray for you,

I will sell my soul for something pure and true,

Someone like you.

See your face every place that I'm walking,

Hear your voice every time that I'm talking,

You will believe in me, and I will never be ignored.

I will burn for you, feel pain for you,

I will twist a knife and bleed my aching heart,

And tear it apart.

I will lie for you, beg and steal for you,

I will crawl on hands and knees until you see,

You're just like me.

Violate all the love that I'm missing, throw away all the pain that I'm living,

You will believe in me, 

And I can never be ignored.

I would die for you, I would kill for you,

I will steal for you, I'd do time for you,

I will wait for you, I'd make room for you,

I'd sail ships for you, to be close to you,

To be part of you, Cause I believe in you,

I believe in you.

I would die for you."

By the time it ended tears were slowly and silently making their way down my face. Gods, I missed Nor. When he died, it hurt, and I changed my entire lifestyle to try to delete the pain from my life. But I wasn't making anything better, and I know that now. It just numbed the pain, knowing somebody else felt pain for something lost as well. And now, I could tell I didn't just ache for Now, I ached for that part of me he always held which was no longer there. I couldn't tell where it was, or what it was, but it was Nor's, and his only. 

I couldn't give what I didn't have to somebody else. I couldn't replace it with jewelry I stole from others. I couldn't fill it back up by surviving how Nor would have wanted me to. I couldn't get another by making friends or saving other people. I, in fact, was helpless to do anything for the ache. Perhaps, over time, it would lessen to the point where it wouldn't be such a hindrance on me, but until then, it was a familiar ache that I would turn down the universe to keep. Other than my heart, this ache was all that was left of Nor, besides his body buried where I had left him beside our home. 

__

Home. . .I no longer had a home. My entire life, wherever Nor was would be my home. Without him, I have none. I could wander this planet and this galaxy for the rest of eternity and never find another home. Sure, I could find a place to stay for the rest of that eternity, but I could never call it my "home." Not without Nor being there.

I looked up when I felt something drape across my shoulders. Vash was sitting next to me now, adjusting a blanket on my shoulders. I smiled a little and returned my head to its spot on my knees. It didn't bother me that he could tell by my tears I was thinking about Nor again. In fact, it didn't seem to matter anyway, since I could feel he had the same type of sadness in him.

"Who did you lose?" I asked, and looked over at him. The music for this song wasn't loud, so I would be able to hear him clearly rather easily.

He sighed. "A woman who was like my mother. A long time ago."

"Like a few years? You don't look that old." 

"I get that a lot. I'm older than I look."

I nodded once. After a while of just sitting there I asked him another question that was itching to be asked. "What are you?"

He looked at me closely. "Can't you tell?"

I laughed. "I know you're not human. You're nothing like them, regardless of how you look."

"Well, what are you?"

"I know I'm not human, but I've never had to classify myself. I guess I'll just have to stick with 'alien'."

"I'm a plant."

Now it was my turn to look at him sharply. "How could you be a plant?"

"Simple." He shifted slightly so he was halfway turned to me. "I was born this way. No mother, no father, but I do have a twin."

"Wow. A walking talking plant. Like those things in the big bulbs?"

"Not quite. [DL: Insert explanation on how he was born here.] I'm about one hundred and thirty now."

"You've got to be shitting me," I half laughed. 

"Nope. Superior intellect, speed, age and abilities." He sighed then, as though he didn't want that.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked, and stopped the player before the next song could get to me. "Aren't you happy being a plant?"

"I'd rather just be human, like everybody else."

"You've got to be some kind of idiot," I said back. He looked at me with a very confused face. "Any other person on this planet would give anything to be you! Well, probably minus all those scars you've got," I added. "But that's not the point. If you gave anyone you met a chance to be you, they'd jump for it." I shook my head. "You're just falling for the 'Forbidden Fruit' theory."

"What's that?"

"You always want what you can't have. The thing is, when you actually get what you wanted, you'd rather be the way you were before you had it." I looked at him and he nodded, understanding. I hoped that this would help him realize no one was happier than the man who wanted to be who he was.

__

Now if I could only follow my own advice. I'm not quite sure why, but we were still looking at each other. For some reason I couldn't look away from his eyes. On top of that, he seemed to be in the same position. I couldn't tell you why I couldn't look away, but I could tell you I recognized this feeling that went through me as we just stared. However, there was no way I could describe it. I'm sure it was a different description for everyone that felt it, some could, some couldn't. I was just one of the people who couldn't. 

And now. . . I think we were. . . leaning closer to one another. Yes, I could feel it. We were slowly coming closer and I. . . _I can't do this._

Gods, this place was getting to me! I snapped my head in the opposite direction just a second before our lips would have touched, and muttered something about Nor not approving and went back to my "bed." I didn't pay any attention to what Vash did then, not even looked back. Hell, I turned my back to him! God only knows what would happen tomorrow. . .

But that's one thing I'd rather not think about. Ever. Now my only questions was: _When do we get out of here?!_

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Thanks to my newest reviewers. . . Since I _do _that. . .

****

Moonlit

Wait. . . Is this the only recent reviewer I have?! Tch! What a gyp! Tch! *Storms off muttering about how this happened last chapter, too*

See ya!


	7. Are We There Yet?

Disclaimer: Isn't this always first? One way or another I'm going to have to find a way to permanently stick the 'disclaimer' to the beginning of each chapter I write . . . Damn things . . . *Sigh* I do not own Trigun. THERE!! I said it!! *Psychologists around the world cheer at the accomplishment*

But anyway. This is my third _written _Trigun fic. I dunno which is going up first. Eh, I might've already uploaded one; who knows. 

In a nutshell this is what might happen if a woman who had Vash's speed used it all for stealing and decided to steal from _him_, while he's _asleep _nonetheless.

And this here is . . . 

Chapter Seven:Are we there yet??

All night I was up. All friggin' night. I couldn't very well get to sleep, much as I wished I could. But I came to an interesting conclusion due to my long period of thought. I never received a fifth test. I did four, but Nor told me there was five. And he told me I passed. He couldn't have miscounted, or misinformed me, and I couldn't have misheard. So then. . . I was to go through a fifth test. . . But when?

As soon as the suns came up and the stars were officially out for the count, I was up. I spent all night laying, tossing and turning in my thoughts, but never getting any sleep. Damn it! I couldn't very well sit down for the next few hours!! A little test of stretching told me my back was fine now, no matter how badly it was cracked before. So then, I was all better and could do whatever I wanted. That was a good start. Maybe I could start off by myself, start walking to rid myself of my energy. . . And if they didn't find me again, that's all the better. 

Yes. That was a good plan. Get all of my energy out by walking in the sun wearing all black and carrying my possessions and. . . Whatever. I could do this. Everybody was asleep, and it wasn't like I was _abandoning _them. . . Right? I wasn't just running away or. . . trying to hide or anything. I think.

Okay, now I was starting to question my own plans? Oh man. . . I can't believe this. All I have to do is get up, gather my things - that were already put together - and then start walking. . . Just walk, that's it.

Gods, why was I trying to convince myself of this?! I wasn't going to stay away forever, you know. There's only so many towns on this planet. . . So many places a person could be. . .Damn it! 

Mentally snarling, I reached out to grab my bag, and picked up my plant. One look at it and I did a double-take. It was twice the size it was last night! Something must've really helped it grow! It was looking like it was going to be big, whatever it was! And it was all because I didn't overlook the tiny thing. . . Wow.

I shook my head. I was getting distracted. Okay, so maybe this was like raising a child, and being a mother, but still. I was getting carried away. I had to get up, and get moving. So that's what I did. I got up and started off in the direction I knew from personal experience was the next town. I glanced at each person as I did so, making sure everyone was still asleep. 

Milly and Meryl hadn't moved since they fell asleep, Martin looked dead asleep, Wolfwood I couldn't see but couldn't hear either, and Vash. . . I tried not to look at him. But still, I had to glance, and see if he was awake. He was sitting now like he had been before, against his rock and with his head down. Good. He was still asleep then. I had a clean chance of leaving now.

My sleeping habits was one of the reasons why Martin never caught me. He studied my moves, followed my leads, knew my patterns, but I always had one advantage over him. He needed sleep as every human did, eight hours between every eighteen to twenty four hours, where as I needed just eight every thirty hours. There was no way he could ever catch me like that. 

I didn't look back once, but kept looking forward. As I continued walking, the wind continued to pick up. By the time I was gone an hour I was shielding my face with my oversized sleeve from the sand. Damn it. Maybe this wasn't such a bright idea after all. The plant would be okay, seeing as how all it needed to survive was solid air and sunshine, but the wind was just beating at it! I was holding it to let it get sun, but now I was thinking of putting it away in my sack so it wouldn't be bombarded with the harsh winds and sand. My entire body was stinging from the sand as it was. A little late to turn back now, though. If I wasn't squinting so much I would've seen the town in view, well, _my _view anyway. The other humans wouldn't have been able to see anything other than sand. 

I sighed and stopped, deciding on putting my little plant in the sack until the sand calmed down, and kneeled down so I could do so. Just as I was tying up my sack I heard something. Faint, low, and far away, but I heard it. It sounded almost like a. . .growl. 

My mind sparked as I figured out what it was, and stood up, putting my sack back on. I turned and looked the way the wind was blowing, and felt my hair finally let loose from its tie. Well, this was one way to keep my face from being burned by the sand. 

A dark outline was the first to appear, through the blinding wind and sand. The sound got louder as it did, and after a good half minute, I could easily make out what 'it' was. Nobody else could have seen what I could, so I had a definite advantage over everybody else. 

And my suspicions were confirmed. It was Wolfwood, on his motorcycle. Which I now knew he named - "Angelina". Cute name, bud. [DL: Here's the thing. I knew he had Angelina, and then was fixing up Angelina II. So this will be the first. Nyah.] 

Once he saw me, standing there and waiting, he skidded to a stop and leaned against one of his legs. "What do you think you're doing out here?!" he yelled at me over the wind. 

Wow. He was really pissed. "Going into town," I snapped back.

"You're going to come back with me! And then we're all going after the storm subsides!"

"Sorry! I don't listen to men!" Without waiting any longer I turned and began walking again. The town couldn't be much farther, after all. . .and I still couldn't quite face Vash yet. . . So there was no reason to stop now. Right?

"You're coming back if I have to knock you out and drag you back!" Wolfwood snapped and revved the engine before driving around me to 'block' my way. "Now get on!"

"No, thanks! I have two legs, you know!" I started to walk around him, but he caught my arm, making me look at him.

"Just get on," he said again, much more calmly than before. So, he was trying to negotiate, was he? 

"Later, maybe," I said back, calming my voice as well. 

__

Now he looked pissed. "Everybody freaked when they woke up and you weren't there! Vash has been worried sick!"

I jerked involuntarily when he said that name. "Why would he be worried?!"

"He thought that somebody might have found you and taken you in! Can't you tell?! He's completely fallen for you!"

"Well then, he's a fool!" I snapped back, unable to believe that anybody could fall for me. After all, I was a thief, unfeeling and cold, and completely - _Not anymore_, my own thoughts snapped back. _Remember, you went through the hardest tests ever created so you could change into a nicer, warmer person. Blonde, _the put-down bit me. "I can't be with anyone! Least of all him!" I finished my earlier tirade. Why was I still resisting?

"How about we discuss this _later _when we're **back!**" Wolfwood shot back at me. Before he gave me a chance to say anything he jerked me onto the bike and started off back to where we came.

"I hope you know where you're going!" I yelled at him, even though we were close enough that I didn't have to.

"That's why you're here!" He said over his shoulder. 

"What?" 

"I know you have better senses than the rest of us! Point us in the right direction!"

My face fell. "You don't know where you're going?!" I snapped at him. One glance at the speed gauge told me we were going about forty, and the wind was way above that. 

"You should know!" he said back.

"You're avoiding my question!" I said, and then gasped, feeling something hit the back of my head really hard. My strength left me completely, and I fell forward, against Wolfwood. My eyes were still open, but losing focus. I reached back and felt the back of my head, feeling moisture. My eyes dropped and closed, and then my hearing picked up Wolfwood screaming at me not to fall. And then his voice was gone, and I heard a thump like something falling. And then just the wind remained, but only briefly. I was out.

When I opened my eyes again, the wind had stopped completely. Apparently Wolfwood hadn't found me yet, seeing as how I was in a very uncomfortable position, and half covered in sand. Thank god my mouth was closed, or I might have died from inhaling the sand. I blinked slowly, and felt sand on my eyes. Gods, that hurt. . .

I sat up, coughing, and brushed all the sand off of me. _Where is my pack? This sand is really hurting. . . What time is it?_ All these questions and more ran through my head, and I winced, rubbing at my eyes and blinking repeatedly. This didn't feel good at all. . .

I coughed again and stood up, looking around for any sign of my pack. I couldn't see it at all, so I got down on my knees and felt under the sand for it, half for the plant inside and half for the water. I needed a drink, the plant needed light. . . Neither of us could survive like this. I found it!

It was completely buried, and had a lot of sand inside as well, but I found it. I pulled out the plant first, checking to make sure it would be okay. It held up nicely, even through the wind and harsh sand. It must have really strong roots. And next was my water. I had to take a nice, long drink. . .

I gulped as much down as I could, feeling my throat become moist again and then poured some on my hair. I put the cap back on and returned the bag to my pack before rubbing my scalp, feeling for my newest wound.

My entire body winced when I touched it, ever so slightly. The sand I was laying on was soaked with the blood that came from my gash. That wasn't a good sign. I had to find something. . .anything that I could wrap around my head to hold back the blood that was still slowing dripping down my neck and back.

Here we go! My god, I have everything and a handbag in my pack, I swear. "Everything and the kitchen sink" I believe was the saying. Even my very own first-aid kit. That was helpful. I wrapped some of it around my head, under my hair. This helped a lot. It really did.

I'm really happy that I had all this stuff. Trying to keep some sort of happy feeling alive, I found myself speaking to my growing plant. I knew from past experiences that plants grow better when you pay attention to them and talk to them. All of my flowers grew better when I spoke to them daily. It was a fact I learned myself. 

I laughed from time to time at my own little jokes, once I put away the bandages and started walking again, holding my plant in my arms. It was now midday, telling me I must have been out for about five hours, or maybe I miscounted the hours that I was walking. Either way, midday was _not _a good time to be walking while wearing all black. 

I think I just zoned out, speaking to myself just as much as my plant, after a little time, sweat forming on my forehead and refusing to go away no matter how much I swiped. Apparently, though, I was walking the wrong way, because I heard shouting to my left - far left. I turned to see a jeep change directions and smiled faintly. I lowered to my knees to wait, not having enough strength left for me to stand and wait. Wolfwood on his bike got there first, and half helped, half hefted me onto his bike. I wrapped one arm around his waist and the other held onto my plant, and I closed my eyes. Blissful darkness. . . How nice it is. . .

We all met halfway, and I was laid out on M&M's laps in the back seat. I kept my grip on my plant the whole time, making sure it didn't tip. I was practically forced to drink more water, seeing as how Meryl held my mouth open and Milly poured.

I swear, though, Vash was the most concerned. Had he really fallen for me? I couldn't see a guy like him fall for anybody, let alone a loner like me. Maybe for this Milly girl, seeing as how they act a lot alike, and they're always nice to each other. Vash never said a thing the entire way to town, but I could just feel it. He was worried. Really worried. 

Martin kept looking like he was torn between laughing at me for my stupidity, and helping the others nurse me back to perfect health. And sanity, for that matter. I was still talking out loud, asking my plant questions, never letting my attention on it down. Although by now my voice was rough and very quiet, and I had a small smile on my face.

I knew for a fact that everyone must be thinking I was insane, speaking out loud but never asking anyone present to answer at all. I peeked my eyes open from time to time, and saw Milly and Meryl giving each other concerned glances. Even Martin looked completely worried about me now. After all, it never was a good sign when people spoke to themselves. 

The moment we got into town, I was being moved. I still don't know who it was that was carrying me, but I saw Meryl with my plant and Milly with my pack. And that was as far as I could see. Whoever was behind them was nothing more than a blur - and behind that I saw nothing. Nothing at all. I need to have this wound checked out. . . But then, that's where we're going, isn't it?

I heard some shouting, and then the suns' light was gone, replaced by its' reflections off walls and so on. Another few seconds and I was on a bed - hard and feeling metal. I was being asked questions, or maybe someone else; I couldn't tell at this point. I was being rushed somewhere, I knew that much. I must be at some doctor's office or something. My sight was going even more hazy, though, so I couldn't tell.

I saw a light shine in my eyes, and jerked my head away reflexively. Someone nearby said something, but by now my mind was spinning. Why couldn't I just black out? That sounded good. Maybe I would. 

Someone now was taking off my bandages, and the moment I felt it rip across my wound, I jerked, yelped, and then I was out. I woke up in darkness. All this sleep was really throwing off my schedule. . . _Where am I now? On a bed? Feels a lot softer than what I've been on in years. Maybe. . .a recovery ward? My head hurts. What happened to my baby? Where is everybody? How did everybody make it here when we didn't have enough fuel?_

My mind kept up the unanswerable questions as I sat up, only to be pushed back down and told not to get up. At least not for a while. I was still recovering, the voice said. I'd have to keep still for another few hours, at the very least. Who was talking to me?

Swallowing, I spoke up. "Who's there?" I was surprised at my own voice, it being so hushed and rough. That wasn't my voice. No, it had to be someone else's. 

"A few of us are here," the voice replied. "Milly, Martin, and myself. Vash."

"Oh," my harsh voice got out. I opened my eyes and blinked, trying to focus on something. Anything, anything at all. My sight blurred together and gave me double images, but I caught one and held onto it until my eyes could focus entirely. Anything but _him_, I reconciled. I still didn't exactly feel up to looking at Vash. 

My eyes scanned around a little, catching Milly sitting on my left, and Martin standing by the door. I started to sit up again, wanting to test what I could and couldn't do in this state. Immediately two hands were trying to - as gently as possible - push my back down. I rejected the hands, pushing them back and sitting up anyway. 

I rubbed the side of my head before speaking again - this time to my lap. Ha ha. "Where is everybody else?"

"In a hotel room," Milly answered. _She_ even sounded worried. 

I got out a small laugh, and then looked at the tall woman. I wasn't quite her height, but I myself was still considered taller than the normal woman. "Are you concerned about me?" I asked, turning my head to see her in the slight light of the moons. 

She nodded and then gestured next to her - on a small table. My plant was there, its two leaves drooping, as though it, too, was sad. I reached over to it without thinking and tried to lift its leaves. They refused to stay up, and I started getting concerned. 

"Why is it drooping?" I asked, trying to keep my own concern from my voice.

"I don't know," Milly said, her gaze falling. "I think it might have been me. Maybe I'm just no good with plants. . ."

"It can't be you," I said to her. Reaching over, I lifted her chin. "Trust me, it could never be you. You're much too kind to cause anything any measure of sadness."

Milly gave me a smile, and then grabbed my hand and squeezed it. 

I smiled back at her, and then propped up my pillows and leaned against them. I placed my plant - which was really turning out to be a flower of some kind - on my lap, carefully lifting the leaves and begging it to get stronger so it wouldn't droop so much. It looked so. . .dead like that. 

Martin came up to the foot of my bed and spoke. "After you're better, you're coming with me."

"Back home, back to the jail," I said. "Back to retribution. Back to my stash to give everything back. Back to a life of solitude and shouting. Back to being cold."

"What?" Martin said, doing a double-take. "Say again?"

I smiled emptily. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me," he replied. I laughed. 

"I'll take a rain check on that, thank you." I leaned more fully against my pillows and let out a sigh as my eyes shut. My hand absently touched my flower, lifting the leaves a few times. 

"Could you two leave?" I heard Vash say. _No, _my thoughts bit back. _Stay here, both of you. _"I'd like to speak with Aluna alone for a while." _No, you don't. You don't want to speak with Aluna. You don't know any "Aluna". You don't know how to speak. You don't know anything. Leave._

My mind continued begging for him to leave even as I heard Milly agree and drag a reluctant Martin away. I heard Vash sigh and then move. A second later the bed sank under new weight. _Great. Just great. Maybe I could pretend I'm asleep and he'll leave._

"Aluna," he began. I tried not to swallow. "Are. . . Are you feeling okay? That wound's pretty bad."

"I'm fine." **_Damn it!!! _**my mind swore. I was hoping I could fool him into believing I was asleep, and then I go and answer his question after two seconds.

"You're not fine," he disagreed. Why wouldn't he just leave?

"Actually, I am," I lied. "Never been better."

"Aluna - " he bit out angrily, but caught himself. "Look, Aluna. . ._Look_, meaning open your eyes." A few seconds passed. "Aluna, would you just. . .Listen to me!" he snapped, but not angrily.

"Do you love me?" I was surprised myself that I asked that. The words just left my mouth. My eyes opened and I blinked a few times as I tilted my head back down and looked at him. He looked as shocked as I was.

"I love all things." _Ahh, so we're playing the "avoid" game. Two can play at that._

"You love the dirt?" I asked. 

"Do you?"

"You're avoiding the question."

"No, I'm not." I was about to reply when he smiled and lifted a hand to stop me from speaking yet. "I'm avoiding the answer."

I didn't laugh. That's what he always did - he tried to make people laugh. It loosened them up; made them relax and trust. But I couldn't relax, and it had nothing to do with my injury. Hell, that stung and was currently throbbing, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. 

His smile faded as the seconds ticked by. Tick? There was a clock around? 

"You said you wanted to talk, but you've hardly said a thing. Having problems thinking?" 

A small smile, somewhat sad, appeared on his face and his gaze dropped. "That's one way to put it."

I shook my head. "Just leave," I said, slumping under the covers and flipping onto my side. "You want to talk? We'll talk later. Good night." I gave him no opportunities; I was still having trouble facing him. Hence the reason why my back was currently facing him. 

After a moment I heard him sigh, and then his footsteps carried him away. The door opened and then the light went out. "Good night," he said in return and the door shut a second later. I was alone.

. . .Again.

I sighed and rolled onto my stomach. I wasn't tired, and now I had nothing to do. I'd gotten more than enough sleep for the next week, and yet, all I wanted at the moment was to start a trip through the dream world, and hopefully never end. So what if it was a coward's way of thinking? That's what I wanted.

Maybe. . .maybe I'd meet Nor in my dreams. He always knew just what to do and to say - my guiding light, you could say. If I had one, that is. 

But that got me thinking again. What if Nor was there, waiting for me? Waiting to see me? Perhaps it was just wishful thinking, but right now, wishing was really helping me relax. Maybe next I'll wish to build a water park on the rooftops of some big town. Ha ha, ha ha ha. 

Nonetheless, a silent laugh shook my body and I squeezed the pillow beneath me, keeping my eyes closed. A faint smile touched my lips. This "wishing" thing was definitely lightening my mood. _Now if only my head would stop throbbing. . ._

Oh, there I go again. _Geez, I can't two minutes without reminding myself how messed up my life is, can I? How's this. . .I wish for a better life, damnit!_

"Maybe you'll get one."

I jerked my head up, and instantly regretted the motion. I could swear I felt a tear, and now I could feel the stickiness at the back of my head getting wetter. That's not good. . .

__

Was that voice in my head? I wondered. I flipped over slowly, carefully, and looked around the room. I couldn't see anything. _What in the world? . ._

"Not in this world," the voice came again. But this time, I recognized it.

__

It can't be. . .Am I asleep? Holding my breath, I looked to my left, and just nearly passed out. Or, I would have, had I not been in such shock. There he was, the man I'd been wishing were alive since the day he died. _Nor. . ._

He was in full color, not see-through or in shades of white and blue like ghosts were. _Is he alive again? _

__

"I'm not alive," he said. Or, rather, he sent the thought into my mind while moving his mouth. I didn't understand it one bit.

__

"It's simple," he thought/said. He stepped closer and sat on the edge of the bed, smiling at me. _"Only you can hear me. I'm actually using my voice, Aluna. You just can't hear it outside of your mind."_

"What - " I began, but Nor reached up and touched my lips, halting my words. 

__

"Just think. I'll hear you. If you talk out loud, you may alert somebody to come in - and they can't see me, either."

Why are you here? I thought, the only thought I'd really been aware of before he answered. 

__

"To see you. To give you the life you want, and something else. Something else I was never able to give you. And for that, I'm sorry." His head dropped a moment, as though he was expecting me to slap him for something - something I knew nothing about.

__

I don't understand. Nor, what. . .What were you never able to give me? You gave me everything!

He looked up during the speech - if one could call it that. And now he smiled. _"A baby," _he answered, simply. _"I wanted to. God knows, I wanted to, Aluna."_

Now I was stunned. _How can you give me that now? _

"Lay back," he said, but now the words were whispered. _"I'll show you."_

I closed my eyes as I did so, a smile - a truly heartfelt smile - gracing my lips for the first time since he'd left me behind. _A baby. . ._ The words seemed to sing to me. _A baby, Nor's baby. . .After all this time. . ._

__

"Aluna. . ." I could feel him moving; leaning towards me. Anticipation surged up in me, along with a feeling of yearning for him - I could swear I'd never felt anything so strongly. Another second passed, and then I felt his lips on mine, as real, as warm, as soft as they'd ever been. All of my memories of him were nothing compared to the reality of him. 

Everything about him was as real as it had ever been, down to the last strand of hair and fingernail. This was Nor, my Nor, the man I'd almost married; the man who was dead, but here, and giving me a child. All my past regrets of wanting his baby disappeared as we held onto each other, waiting for dawn.

__

How long can you stay here? I asked, running my fingers through his hair. He lay on me, his head on my chest. Our clothes - though his had long since disappeared from existence - were piled on top of each other just beside the bed. 

__

"Not much longer." I felt him move, lift up his head and prop himself on his elbows. He was smiling. _"You know what this means, don't you?"_

I tilted my head. _Which "this"?_

He laughed, a rich, velvety smooth sound in my head. _"Everything. You're going to have a baby, Aluna. And you can't be a thief and be pregnant in one. As well, you can't let yourself waste away as you have been. And you're going to have to say goodbye, Aluna. You know that."_

I sighed and let my head fall back. Something in the back of my mind reminded me that Nor had helped my solve my problem of what I was going to do all night. _I know. Thank you, Nor. _I lifted my head to smile at him, and again ran my fingers through his hair. After a moment of watching it run across my fingers, I frowned. God, I was going to miss him. . .

His eyes dropped, and I knew he'd heard that, even though it wasn't a solid thought. _"Don't miss me, Aluna. If anything. . ." _He looked up, and I could see that his blue eyes - bright and yet dark as mine - were lighter, and shining. _"If anything, just love our child. If you have to think of me, and remember me, remember me with joy, Aluna. Not with sorrow or longing. See me in our child. I'll be there. And I'll be above you as well, always. I'll be watching, so make sure you raise him well."_

I felt my eyes flood and my throat crowd by the time he was finished. _"Him"? . . _my mind repeated, shakily. It was even hard to think! 

__

"Yes. A son, Aluna. Think up a good name." His eyes left mine, darted towards the window. All of a sudden, I felt his presence here was very fragile. _"I have to go. I'm sorry, Aluna."_

He started to get up, and instinctively I clung to him. "Just a few more minutes," I whispered, not caring if there was somebody on the other side of the door. 

He held me just as fiercely as I held him, obviously not liking this idea of being apart any better than I was. _"This is it, Aluna," _he whispered. _"Remember? Your fifth test. You have to let me go."_

I don't want to! my mind hissed back.

__

"You have _to, Aluna."_

Why?! my mind snapped, and I snapped my head up as well, to stare into his eyes. _Why do I have to, Nor?!_

His eyes looked sad, and. . .pale. _"Because if you don't, the baby won't live. Our son."_

My eyes went wide. This wasn't fair. . . _I have to give you up in order to have your baby? Why I can't I have both of you?! I _need _you both!_

"I'm sorry, Aluna. God, I'm so sorry. But I didn't make the rules. If I had my way, I'd be with you now - I would have never left. But this is the way things are - the way they have to be. One way or another, I have to leave. In another minute. And if you can't let me go, Aluna. . ."

He left the sentence unfinished, but I knew what he was saying. I bowed my head, feeling those tears return and the moment I closed my eyes, I felt them leak out. It was the first time I'd cried since. . .since. . .

I felt a hand on my chin, tilting up me head. I didn't open my eyes or speak; I didn't want to see Nor go or have to say good bye. But then I felt him kiss me, and I reached out to hold him there. I wanted this moment to never end.

__

Say goodbye, Aluna, my mind ordered. _You may never get another chance. _I shook my head sharply, wanting to deny those words. "I can't. . ." I whispered, the words almost breathless and shaking. 

__

"Aluna," Nor's voice coaxed. _"Aluna," _he said again, raising my chin again. I looked right back at him. 

__

I. . .I don't want to. . . I thought, my mental words stumbling over themselves.

__

"Please." He was fading; I could see it. _"We have no time."_

I wish we did. The thought was only barely heard by both of us. Just a breath, and unwelcome. I hadn't allowed that thought. I shook my head again, as though to clear out those thoughts. "Nor," I whispered. I looked directly into his eyes, wishing we had just another minute. Just one more. . .

I reached up to touch his hair again, the faintest of smiles curving my lips. "Good bye, Nor."

He smiled back at me, a relieved smile. He leaned forward again, and I shut my eyes. This was it - our last kiss. I had to savor it. 

__

Good bye, Aluna. This time it was just in my mind, a last wisp of his power. And then my hands were holding nothing, and they dropped to my lap as I held onto that last feeling of his hair; his lips. Something splashed on my hand, and I looked down.

Tears. But not mine. 

Again, I felt myself smile. He'd left me a gift, perhaps even a better one than the baby. _Oh. . .the baby. . ._ I leaned back, my smile growing, and let my hands rest on my womb. I remembered this part - the women on my planet were only pregnant for about six months. But that wasn't surprising, seeing as how our times were different from Gunsmoke's.

I felt perfect just then. I knew Nor had healed my wounds, all of them - down to the last scar on my heart and soul. And this baby - already it was filling the gaps and holes Nor's departure had left unfinished. I could think of only one name for him.

"Nor. . ."

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*Wipes tears* Man, I really outdid myself on that one. . .I didn't know I could write anything so touching. Especially now - I'm listening to the Mortal Kombat theme song. Don't ask me where I got it; I've long since forgotten. But now I want to watch the movie. *Sigh* Too bad for me, eh?

Well, for those of you who have been begging for this chapter - HERE!! TAKE IT!!! 

I'd thank those of you who reviewed so far, but right now. . .eh heh. . .no internet. Not my fault!! Don't blame me! 

See ya!


	8. Reconsciling

Disclaimer: Isn't this always first? One way or another I'm going to have to find a way to permanently stick the 'disclaimer' to the beginning of each chapter I write . . . Damn things . . . *Sigh* I do not own Trigun. THERE!! I said it!! *Psychologists around the world cheer at the accomplishment*

But anyway. This is my third _written _Trigun fic. I dunno which is going up first. Eh, I might've already uploaded one; who knows. 

In a nutshell this is what might happen if a woman who had Vash's speed used it all for stealing and decided to steal from _him_, while he's _asleep _nonetheless.

And this here is . . . 

Chapter Eight: Reconciling

I woke slowly to the sound of soft breathing next to me. More tired than I could ever remember, I groaned as I turned, flipping over slowly and letting my head roll right. And there, as I'd expected him to be, was Vash the Stampede. He was sitting in the same chair he'd been sitting in the previous night, only now it was dusk and he was slumped, seemingly too tired to stay awake. _He must've been awake all night, like I was, _I realized, and my eyes filled. I sat up, smiling at him.

He was so incredibly selfless. And if what Nicholas said was true, then he probably loved me like he did everything else, and was worried about my health. I couldn't imagine the conversation that would come of my being pregnant. He'd probably assume that I'd been with somebody before my attempt at robbing the hotel. And wasn't it illegal to lock in guests at a hotel? I was sure I'd asked myself that before.

Oh, I could hardly wait to see his expression when I tell him that my past lover came back to give me a child. . .

__

A baby. . .

My eyes filled again, and this time I let them fall as my hand lifted to touch my lips. I could hardly believe it had happened, but then again, I couldn't be sure it _had _until a month or two from now, when I'd start showing. Still, it was getting harder for me to breath, and I choked on a breath as a grin split my face. With a deep sigh I let myself fall back into the bed, and as I'd expected, Vash stirred. Another moment passed and I heard his voice.

"Aluna. . ?" He blinked a few times and then looked at me, both worried and surprised that I was awake and crying. "Are you alright?" he asked in a rush. "Are you in pain?"

"I'm not in pain," I said with a shake of my head. "I just. . .had a very lovely dream," I explained. "These are happy tears."

"You're sure?" he asked, concern plain on his face. "Your head doesn't hurt? What about your back? And your ribs?" He continued to list them off, asking if something else hurt every time I shook my head. At last I laughed at him, and sat up, one arm holding my sheets to my chest.

"I'm perfectly fine, Vash. Never felt better. Really." I sighed deeply, the pleasant feeling remaining. "Really," I assured him again. And then, "Honestly." I said it with complete sincerity, looking directly into his green eyes. "I wouldn't lie to you, and you know it."

He sighed. "After what happened last I can't be too sure."

"I was depressed, Vash," I told him. "I thought that I was going to be locked up for the rest of my life, even if I chose to give everything back and choose a new career." I sat up straighter. "But everything's alright now. Promise. Hey," I added at his look and lifted my left hand, "I swear on my soul. If I'm lying I'll gladly gift-wrap myself and mail myself directly to Satan's lap."

He continued that searching look only a moment more before letting out a laugh. "In that case I hope you're not lying," he laughed.

"Me too," I laughed back. For a moment that was almost frozen in time, we were both laughing, and I let my left arm cover my womb. Oh, to have a baby, Nor's baby. . .With another sigh I fell back again, a contented smile along my lips. My eyes were closed but I knew that Vash was still looking at me. "You know," I said without opening my eyes, "that little tornado has a thing for you."

"Tornado?" he asked, surprise in his voice.

"Yeah, you know - black hair, grey eyes, short stature, fiery spirit and excellent aim. . ." I chuckled. "About fifty derringers. . ."

He was already laughing. "You're sure about that? I thought she just liked to torture me."

"That's a sign of love," I claimed, lifting my hand and pointing at the ceiling like I was making a point. But another laugh escaped my lips. 

"Do you also swear that on your soul?" Vash teased. "And if you're lying you'll gift-wrap yourself and mail yourself to Satan's lap?"

"Hmm. . .Let me think about that one. . ." I laughed as Vash did, and opened my eyes. His laughter was actually of the seductive kind, but not the type that made you melt or stole your breath. It was such a light laugh, as though the world didn't matter, and just begged that you laugh along, even if you didn't know what the joke was. I'd never met anyone like that. But man, am I glad I met Vash.

So what if I blew my chance at thievery, got badly injured by eight over-muscled thugs, got lost in a sandstorm, cracked my skull and lost the one man I'd ever loved for good? I was still happy I met him.

"Vash," I said, catching his attention as my voice became serious. "Were you really nuts with worry during that storm?"

He glanced away a moment and his cheeks went red as he nodded. 

"Well, thank you," I said, working on propping up my pillows while keeping my left arm across my chest. I really should have remembered to get dressed before I fell asleep last night, but it was too late to cry about it now. When I turned back to him, leaning against the pillows, the look on his face made my breath catch in my throat. 

__

He's not going to - is he? He can't be serious. . . The thoughts might have been in my head, but they didn't seem to touch home. 

"Aluna," he said, sounding as breathless as I was, "can I ask you something?"

"Just about anything," I replied, hoping it would deter what I was scared of him asking.

"Can I kiss you?" The look in his eyes was doing all the pleading, and his voice was just asking permission formally.

"That's one of those things you can't ask me," I told him. "You know I hate to have to break your heart, so don't hand it over, okay? Alright?"

He wasn't seeing me anymore. His eyes were on me, still holding mine, but he couldn't see me anymore. I recognized that faraway look, one I had more than once over my lifetime and always once more than I wished. And then he blinked and sat back, shaking his head and glancing around, as though he'd forgotten where he was for a moment. 

And then he met eyes with me again, and it was all I could do to smile at him. "You drifted off for a minute there. Are you back in the world of the living again?" 

"I hope so," he laughed, smiling as well. But that was mask; he wasn't really happy at all. I could see through it easily, but god only knows what would happen if I let him know that I could see through his mask.

Deciding not to risk it, I looked away, at the door. "Would you leave for a minute so I could get dressed, Vash?" I asked, hoping that by using his name he'd do it. I glanced at him as he got up and left, and sighed as the door shut. There was more behind my request for him to leave than just to get dressed. I had some thinking to do, and soon, I'd have a baby to take care of - I hope and pray. 

It was the only thing on my mind as I got dressed again, and all that I could think of as I opened the window. I don't want to run away, but there's no way I could properly eat and take care of myself while in a jail cell. I paused, though, and turned around to write a note. Knowing Vash, he'd know the instant my feet touched the dirt outside the window. I wrote the note carefully, choosing only the best words for such a thing, and left it on the pillow after making up the bed. 

And then I was at the window, my pack strapped across my chest, and my left hand holding my womb as my right held the paneling. With a deep breath and a practiced judge of distances, I leapt, falling three stories before landing on a cloth overhand and sliding down it, and then another two stories of a fall. I took the landing hard, harder than I'd like to admit, and looked down at my left thigh in surprise. I hadn't known I'd hurt it, but the sharp, tearing pain proved that I had. Nonetheless I got up, rubbing the aching thigh - probably a torn muscle - and began to half-run, half-limp towards the bus. 

As I did so, I lifted my hand and touched my Blaze Heart, hanging from a necklace I made during some time last night. I took it off as I neared the bus, which was - luckily - just boarding, and stuffed it into my pack after wrapping it. I glanced behind me just once, and caught a lone figure watching me run from the window of my room. I paused, wanting to go back and make him feel better about this, but instead I waved and then delved into my pocket, pulling out the necessary amount of money and handed it over to the driver. 

I really hoped I didn't break his heart. 

~*~ Six Years Later ~*~

Aluna stood silently, smiling, watching a very certain group of strangers come into town. She recognized them, all of them but one grown man and a child, and she knew very well where they were headed. She waved as they drew nearer, and went down the steps outside her home to meet them. A small boy with white hair trailed behind her, shy and wary of the new people. But Aluna went straight up to the blonde man she remembered, the one with clear green eyes and a sharp gaze. With a grin splitting her face she wrapped her arms around his neck and he hugged her back, glad to have met again. 

"I knew you'd find me," she told him. She released him and stepped back, and her eyes skimmed over their group. "Let's see if my memory is correct. Milly, Meryl, Vash. So who's this, and the kid?" she asked, gesturing at the man and child.

Meryl grinned at her. "This is Nikki, Vash and my little girl. Named after Nicholas, since he died a while ago." In her arms, the girl laughed and reached for Aluna. 

As Aluna caught her, she noticed the kid's weight. "My goodness! How old is she, and how heavy?"

"She's two and a half," Vash filled her in. Her ruffled the girl's black hair, held up in the typical two ponytails and she looked up at her father, her eyes matching his. "And this is Knives, the guy I told you about," he finished, gesturing at Knives.

"He doesn't look quite so homicidal as you made him out to be," Aluna observed. 

"There's a reason behind that," Vash said, laughing.

"Who's this?" Milly asked, hands on knees as she smiled down at Aluna's little boy. 

"Nor," Aluna told her. "This is Nor." She knelt down and let Nikki sit on her knee, and Nor took a tentative step forward. He stared wide-eyed at the child in her arms, but only for as long as it took for Nikki to laugh and decide that she liked Nor. 

Nikki pushed at Aluna and stood up, and promptly toddled over to Nor and hugged the five-year-old boy who was turning out to be just like his father. Nor's face turned red, but he hugged her back, smiling. 

"Awww," Aluna said. Nor looked up at her, still smiling. 

"She's little," he observed. 

"That's only because she's so young. You used to be that size," she told him.

Nikki straightened up and began pointing, as though she was introducing everyone. "Mommy! Daddy! Aunty Milly! Uncie Knives!" SHe grinned at Nor. "What's your name?" she asked, sweetly.

"N-Nor," Nor stuttered at her. Then he straightened up and announced, proudly, "Nor William Craven the second!"

Everyone present laughed at the way he spoke, and Nikki matched him. "Nichole Rem Saverem!" she proclaimed. "I'm gonna grow up to be just as tall as my daddy, as strong-willed as my mommy, as smart as my daddy and as tough as my mommy!" she went on, trying to outdo Nor.

"Ha!" Nor told her, and crossed his arms. "I'm gonna grow up to be just like my daddy, but as fast and sneaky as my mommy!" Once said, he blushed and tried again. "I mean, my Dad, and my Mom!"

Once everyone was done laughing, Aluna stood up and took Nor's hand. "Why don't you all come in? Six years is a long time to be apart. You have to tell me everything."

~*~ Epilogue ~*~

Nor really did grow up to be the equivalent of his father, as smart and agile with mechanics and electronics as he was with his body. Nikki grew up to be right in between her parents, height-wise. She had long black hair that touched her hips and was usually braided, and had two long streaks of blonde. She and Nor fell in love after being together for two weeks and married as soon as Nikki became eighteen and now had three children, all with Nor's eyes. 

Vash and Meryl had four more children, the last two being twins girls. Their second child, Richard after Meryl's father, was their only son. All four were married and had a total of seven children between them.

Knives, under the influence of Vash, became much more good-hearted than he used to be, but still had a temper to be challenged. He and Milly found a likeness between them, and later, that blossomed into quite a love story. That had three children, all boys, and all with blonde hair and blue eyes. 

Martin returned with a paper declaring that Aluna had to do time in jail, but somewhere between "You're coming with me" and the next few days of living with her, he ripped up the paper and sent back a letter that said he never found her. Aluna got him to quit smoking, and soon thereafter, Martin proposed to her. After a few years she agreed and lived happily with him, often times working with him on a case or catching somebody particularly hard to catch. 

Aluna never again regretted the way she lived her life. While she still mourned after Nor and wished he was still with her, she tried her best to not obsess over it. In the end, Nor had given her the best gift she could think of - himself. 

She was forever thankful of that, and of the friends she gained in the hearts of Vash, Meryl, Milly and Knives, the nine children and ten grand children made between them. She knew them all by name, by heart, and cried often at the thought of them all loving her, even if she was just "Auntie Aluna" or "Gramma".

She paid her respects yearly at the grave of Nor and Bunny, thanking them for a wonderful life. It had started rough, with a somewhat psycho mother and the explosion of her home, but it had ended as the perfect life with the perfect friends and even better family. Instead of crying herself to sleep, she smiled as she drifted away, knowing now more than ever that she loved, that she was loved, and that this was her home - right here, in the company of her family and smiling faces of her friends.

She couldn't have wished for a better ending to such a harsh life.

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Boy, it's sad when the ending comes, isn't it? Be happy, people. This is the only story I've ever finished. And I have to admit, it's a pretty heartfelt one. Love the ending, hate the ending, do whatever you want; just review for me, okay? 

See ya! And love ya!


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